


Elves and Goblins

by StarStrom21



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-04 20:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 48,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4151235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarStrom21/pseuds/StarStrom21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is the prince of the elves and was about to marry the love of his life. That is until a green demon had to come and ruin it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The elf prince smiled as he placed his crown on his head and looked in the mirror. The crown framed his spiked, blond hair, showing off the brown tufts in the front. His white royal outfit with gold trim fit his skinny frame perfectly and his long flowing cape drew out his amber eyes.  
Normally he wouldn’t be happy with what he saw but today was different. Today was one of the happiest days of his life and nothing could ruin the good mood he was in, because today was the day he got married to the woman he loved.  
He looked down to the picture on his night stand. It was of a beautiful woman dressed in an elegant light blue dress, Vivi. Her face was framed by soft ringlets of sky blue hair and her indigo eyes sparkled with happiness as she smiled. She was, as Arthur would describe her, perfect.  
He wasn’t the only one as many other men in the kingdom had tried to woo her yet she’d always stay with him. She could have any man she wanted and he was the one she chose. Not for his power or wealth he knew all the other women who’d tried to catch his eye were after, but for him. She loved him for him and nothing more and that thought alone made his heart swell with happiness.  
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the tower bells start to ring. Oh no, he’d be late if he didn’t hurry. Turning to the door he quickly ran out of the room and down the hall. He could not be late to his own wedding. That was the one thing he knew he couldn’t mess up.  
He made it to the ceremony room just in time. His uncle Lance, the king, was already waiting for him.  
“There you are. Arriving at the last possible second as always,” Lance joked.  
“Come on Uncle Lance this is an important day for me, can you please not teas me?” Arthur asked.  
“Son I’ll be teasing you at your coronation,” the short king promised.  
Arthur rolled his eyes before getting into position. The music began to play and Vivi stepped into the room. At seeing her Arthur’s heart nearly stopped. She was gorgeous. The white dress with blue accents showed off her figure beautifully and the light dusting of makeup brought out her best features, just looking at her made Arthur’s legs feel weak. Oh please don’t let him faint in the middle of his wedding.  
As the music came to a close Vivi went to stand beside him. She gave him a breath taking smile, before turning to the elder. Wow, this was really happening. Arthur managed to recompose himself and focus on what the elder was saying.  
When it came time to exchange vows Arthur turned to Vivi and once again felt his legs go unsteady. He was just about to say his line, when a large gust of wind blew through the hall and a dark haze swept over the room. An eerie laugh broke through the silence as a cloaked figure appeared in the middle of the chamber.  
“I’m sorry but I seem to be late to the party,” the demon laughed.  
There was a loud gasp from all the room’s occupants, but they instantly went quiet as the demon looked around at them.  
“How did you get in here, you’re kind are not welcome in our land,” Lance demanded.  
The demon only laughed again obviously not at all threatened by the king. “Oh please, your soldiers were barely a challenge. One whiff of my sleeping spell and they were out like a light,” the demon chuckled.  
“That’s impossible,” Vivi protested, “The royal guard is protected against all spells.”  
The demon grinned. “All known spells you mean, I have my own little brand I use. Care to take a closer look?” it asked, a green ball of energy formed in its hand and tossed at her.  
“NO!” Arthur shouted reaching out to pull Vivi away only to be struck by the spell instead. There was a bright flash of light and the prince was gone.  
There was silence in the room as everything sunk in, only to be broken a second later by Vivi. She let out an indescribable shout of anger and her hands ignited in blue energy. She sent out two streams of it at the demon and sent it flying back.  
“What did you do to him?!” she yelled, using her magic to bind the demon in thick coils.  
The demon just grinned back at her. “Relax he’s not dead, at least not yet,” it told her.  
The bonds tightened around the demon and Vivi glared daggers into it. “What do you mean?” she demanded.  
“It was a teleportation spell. I was going for the expose the future king as a coward approach as he sends others to their death in an attempt to save his love rather than going himself,” it mocked.  
“Arthur is not a coward!” Vivi shrieked the tendrils now getting painfully tight.  
“Well he’s not exactly the epitome of bravery either,” the demon shot back.  
Vivi yanked back on her magic, bringing the demon face to face with her. “Where is he?” she ordered.  
The demon leaned close and in a voice that was barely above a whisper but traveled through the entire room said, “The goblin realm.”  
There was a collective gasp by everyone in the chamber and before Vivi could do anything else the demon left the same way it had come.   
Vivi let out another scream before falling to the ground sobbing.  
-  
Several miles away Arthur appeared in the middle of a forest full of giant thorn covered vines. Stumbling forward he fell onto hard earth and groaned. After getting up and looking around his eyes went wide in terror. There was no mistaking where he was. The thorn forest was just past the border of the goblin realm. This was definitely not good.  
Arthur tried to think of a way out of this but that was hard as the nightmare inducing stories of the goblin realm filled his mind. Poisonous animals and carnivorous plants, there was a new death trap at every turn, but that was nothing compared to the goblins themselves. Tails of elves being locked in dark cells for years, only to be brought out for indescribable tortures, were recalled in full detail and it made Arthur want to pass out. He needed to get out of there before a goblin found him.  
Unfortunately, he had no way to tell which way he needed to go. After realizing he needed to make a decision he settled on the part of the forest that didn’t look as dense. It would at least be an easier walk.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m going to find him,” Vivi announced once the shock of what happened had settled, and plans were being made to get the prince back to safety.  
“Absolutely not!” Lance argued, “I’m not letting my future daughter in law go running off to the most dangerous place known.”  
“And I’m not letting you keep me here while Arthur could be hurt, or worse!” Vivi shouted, new tears of anger welling in her eyes.  
“We have soldiers for a reason, Vivi. Arthur will be found and brought home, but I’m not risking anyone else in this family,” Lance stated.  
“You can’t make me stay here,” Vivi hissed.  
“I can and I will,” Lance stated, “Don’t make me have to lock you up to do so.”  
Vivi glared at him with a cold intensity only to have Lance glare at her right back. Eventually, Vivi relented knowing she wasn’t going to win this.  
“Pleas, I can’t just do nothing when I know Arthur could be in danger,” Vivi pleaded.  
Lance sighed, “Trust me no one knows how you feel more than I do, but we have to think rationally here. Wildly running off isn’t going to help him.”  
Vivi let out a breath calming down. “I know, I’m just scared for Arthur,” she admitted.  
“I know. I’m sending the kingdoms best soldiers to go find him right now. The best we can do is to wait and pray for the best,” Lance told her.  
Vivi nodded, looking to the ground.  
Later that night, Vivi lay in her chambers unable to get to sleep. She knew what the king said was true but she just couldn’t help but want to run right out of the castle and find Arthur herself.  
Just then there was a knock on her door and a soft voice came through, “Vivi, are you awake?”  
Vivi recognized the voice of the high mage but didn’t answer. She knew if she stayed quiet her teacher would leave and she wouldn’t be bothered. However, she knew that the mage wouldn’t come to her at this hour if it wasn’t important. Slowly she got out of bed and went to open the door.  
The mage was a tall dark skinned person who always kept half their face covered with a thick vail. When the door was opened a kind smile was given to Vivi.  
“Yes, is there something you need to tell me, Duet?” Vivi asked.  
The mage held out a small box tied with a bow of yellow, blue, and purple. “It was meant to be your wedding gift but I believe you may have use of it now.”  
Vivi tilted her head but took the box and opened it. Inside was a clear hart that looked to be made of glass. She pulled it out of the box and once her hand touched it the heart suddenly glowed a bright yellow. Vivi’s eyes went wide and she looked up to her teacher as if to ask what it was.  
“It’s a soulmate stone,” Duet explained, “It will lead you to whoever holds your heart.”  
Vivi looked down in awe at the glowing heart in her hands, then back up to Duet. “Thank you, it’s a lovely gift, but why are you giving it to me?” Vivi’s eyes suddenly filled with understanding, “Unless…?”  
Duet smiled and nodded. He then held out a small red whistle to her. “I arranged for a friend to meet you outside the kingdom’s limits, just blow on the whistle and he will come,” Duet told her.  
Tears filled Vivi’s eyes as she looked up to her teacher before pulling them into a hug. “Thank you,” she said.  
“You’re welcome. Now go before someone sees you. I have everything you need stashed in the stables,” Duet instructed.  
Vivi nodded and quickly went to get ready. She had a long journey ahead of her.  
-  
Arthur walked for what felt like miles, the path leading him in a large zigzagging hike. Strangely enough he didn’t come across any of the dark, flesh hungry, monsters that were said to roam in the thorn forest. In fact the biggest thing he saw other than the vines was a small fox. If it wasn’t for the giant spikes all around him it was almost like any other forest. Maybe he was closer to getting out of the forest than he thought.  
Just as he had that idea the path took a turn and the vines opened up to reveal an exit. Arthur smiled and ran out as fast as he could. He was safe. He was out of that forest and he could go home now.  
The relieved feeling he got at getting out of the forest instantly disappeared when he saw what lay beyond. Rocky fields full of plants he didn’t recognize spread out all around him and in the distance was a cluster of mountains with a castle of black stone on top of the largest one. It didn’t quite match the description in the stories he’d been told but there was no mistaking that he’d come out on the wrong side of the forest. He’d only gotten himself deeper into the goblin realm.  
Arthur quickly turned around and was about to go back and try his luck with navigating the vine forest again when a large shadow flew over him. The elf froze and looked up to see what it was. It was difficult to see in the night sky but there was definitely something flying over him, and it was much larger than any bird.  
Arthur could feel his heart stop at the sight of the creature flying over him. There was no mistaking it for what it was. He’d been spotted by a goblin.  
There was a glint of glowing purple eyes and the goblin started to swoop down towards Arthur. Without thinking the prince started running as fast as he could away from the dark shape in the sky, which unfortunately meant away from the forest as well. As he ran Arthur tried not to hear the beat of large leathery wings right behind him or see how the goblin’s shadow was nearly on top of him. He shut his eyes trying to block out the thought of needle like teeth and claws as sharp as daggers.  
With his eyes closed, however, it was impossible for him to see where he was going or to spot the thick root that jutted out in front of him. Arthur tumbled down getting tangled in the thick dry foliage, scrapes appearing on every inch of exposed skin. His ankle was twisted at an angle as he fell and pain shot up his leg. Even if he could get up there was no way he would be able to run now. He was completely vulnerable with the goblin still coming closer.  
Tears rolled down the elf’s face as he tried to curl up as best he could. All he could hope now was that the goblin would kill him quickly.  
There was a small thump as the goblin landed and the crunch of gravel under its feet as it came closer. A small whimper escaped Arthur as he looked up to the large form in front of him. He wished he could close his eyes but he was frozen as the goblin came to stand next to him.  
A clawed hand came up and Arthur flinched, waiting for pain. Instead magenta flames appeared in the goblin’s hand and the area was bathed in a warm light. Arthur blinked as his eyes adjusted and looked back to the goblin, now able to see it better. Instead of the gruesome disfigurement he expected he was met with a square jaw, full lips, a sharp nose, and large eyes. If the elf wasn’t scared out of his mind he would even have said the other looked attractive. Still that didn’t quell Arthur’s fear any. Just because something was pretty didn’t mean it wasn’t still dangerous.  
The goblin’s glowing eyes looked down on Arthur’s small form, stopping when he got to the branches around the elf’s body. Slowly the goblin came closer and Arthur flinched only to hiss in pain again as his ankle shot knives of pain up his leg. The goblin seemed to frown in confusion at this and came forward again before crouching next to the prince.  
Arthur held his breath. Oh god here it came. He was going to die here. He was going to die and he’d never see Lance or Vivi again. Tears started to stream down his face but he didn’t care. He was going to die at the hands of this monster alone and without anyone knowing.  
However, as the moments went by and all the goblin did was stare, Arthur’s heart rate started to slow. Why was it just staring at him like that? What did it want from him?  
He tried to get up again, gritting teeth at the pain but it was clear he was thoroughly trapped by the rough branches and vines. His eyes darted back to the goblin and another pitiful whimper came from him. Was it just enjoying him being helpless and in pain like this?  
Just then the goblin came closer the look of confusion still on his face. The hand that wasn’t holding the fire then reached out and fear gripped Arthur once more. Oh god now what was he going to do?  
The clawed fingers lightly brushed against Arthur’s cheek and he felt his whole body tense. Not even breath escaped him as he waited for what the goblin would do. However, the goblin did nothing more than pull his hand back and look down at it. Something glistened on the hand as if it were wet, oh right Arthur was still crying.  
The goblin stared at the water on his hand for a long time before looking back up to Arthur, the look of confusion not leaving his face. He then reached out and placed his hand on the vines tangled around Arthur’s body. Arthur shut his eyes and started to tremble. Why wasn’t he getting it over with? Was this goblin just messing with him?  
There was then a loud snap and Arthur’s heart nearly stopped, but a few seconds later he found there was no pain. Slowly he opened an eye to see one of the vines had been severed. He looked back up to the goblin only to be met with a look that unmistakably told him not to try anything. Arthur quickly looked away still too scared to move.  
Wordlessly the goblin began to cut away at the branches with his large claws and pulled them away so Arthur wouldn’t get stuck in them again. Arthur didn’t understand. Why was the goblin freeing him?  
Once the last of the foliage was gone the goblin took a few steps back and went back to staring at him. Arthur was now beyond confused but wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to escape. He scrambled back, trying to get to his feet only to cry out in pain and crumple to the ground as his ankle throbbed. No, there was no way he was going to be able to get away with his ankle injured like this. Was this why the goblin set him free? Was he getting entertainment in seeing Arthur struggle to escape when he knew he couldn’t?  
There were foot steps behind him again and he knew the goblin was coming closer again. Arthur didn’t react this time. He knew there was no fighting it now. Maybe if he lay there and didn’t move the goblin would get board of him and kill him quickly.  
This didn’t seem to happen as he felt himself being lifted into the goblin’s arms. There was then the whoosh of wings flapping and he realized they must be flying now, though he wasn’t going to look down to make sure. He did turn his head to see where they were going and to his dismay the goblin was making a strait path to the mountains and as they got closer it was clear the goblin was aiming for the castle.  
Arthur felt his heart sink into his stomach. It was bad enough when he thought he was just going to be torn apart by a single goblin but at the castle there was bound to be every type of torture device available and many more goblins wanting to test them out on him. Realizing his fate, Arthur was only able to curl away and sob to himself softly.  
However, instead of going through the front the goblin flew up to one of the castles high towers. He landed in the large window and after unlatching the heavy shutters, stepped inside.  
Arthur couldn’t see much of the room with only the moonlight from outside illuminating it. What he could see was what looked to be a fairly bare room, with just a bed, chest, and fire place. The goblin ignited fire in his hand again and threw it at the fire place casting the room into a pink light making it easier to see. Arthur looked around again but found there wasn’t much more to see. This hardly looked like a torture room or even that bad of a cell.  
The goblin then went over to the bed and placed Arthur in it. It wasn’t as comfortable as the one he had back home but it was better than lying on the stone floor. Again he was confused by the goblin’s actions. It was coming to the point where he was debating just asking what was going on.  
“Um…?” Arthur was quickly cut off by a hand pressing against his mouth and whatever he was about to say died in this throat. There was the sound of fabric tearing and the hand was removed only for a thick strip of fabric to be shoved in and tied behind his head to make a very effective gag. Nothing more than a few muffled sounds were now audible from his mouth. It seemed that trying to talk was the wrong course of action.  
After tying the gag the goblin got up from next to the bed and went back out the window. The shutters were closed and there was the sound of a lock being clicked into place. If Arthur had any plans of trying to get out of the tower before they were completely gone now.  
Lying down on the bed Arthur thought about his situation. He was trapped in a tower he had no way of getting out of even without a sprained ankle by a goblin that was acting way too strange. He had no idea how long he was going to live or even what the goblin would do when he got back. Even if he thought yelling for help would do any good the gag prevented him from doing so and no amount of trying to untie it did anything, the knot was as tight as ever. Letting out a sad noise Arthur did the only thing he could at that moment, he curled up on the bed and cried.  
A few moments later the goblin came back with something in his hands but it was too dark to tell what it was. He stepped into the room and as he moved the light from the fire reflected off something metal that was obviously sharp. Arthur gulped fear once again rising at the sight.  
The goblin sat back down next to Arthur and placed what was in his hands down. He then grabbed a hold of Arthur’s hand and picked something from the pile. Arthur closed his eyes not wanting to see what torture the goblin was about to inflict on him. He suddenly felt something warm and wet on his hand and he gave a small hiss of pain. Oh right he’d forgotten about the scrapes he’d gotten from the branches he’d been tangled in. However, it wasn’t the horrible agony he’d expected. In fact the warmth felt rather soothing against his cuts.  
The elf opened his eyes to see the goblin gently running a wet cloth down his hand as if he was cleaning out his cuts. Arthur frowned in confusion but wasn’t really able to do much other than watch. Once the goblin had finished cleaning both his hands and the few scrapes on his cheeks he put the cloth down and moved down to his legs.  
Doing his best not to move Arthur’s ankle too much the goblin took his shoe off and rolled up the pant leg to see his hurt ankle. Arthur gave a small gasp at the pain but it was minimal, the ankle was just very sore.  
Arthur looked down at his ankle and cringed it did look really bad. Even in the minimal light of the fire he could see the swelling and dark color. After examining the sprain for a moment the goblin turned to the pile he’d brought in and pulled out what looked like bandages.  
“Hold still,” the goblin said and Arthur’s eyes went wide at hearing the goblin speak for the first time. Still he nodded, knowing it was best to obey the goblin for now.  
The goblin then went to work on wrapping up the ankle, making sure to make it tight enough so the joint wouldn’t be able to move. Once the leg was sufficiently wrapped the goblin took out some scissors, the sharp metal Arthur had noticed, and cut off the extra bandage. The scissors and extra bandage where then placed down and the last item was picked up. It was a bag but Arthur couldn’t tell what was inside it. That was until the goblin placed it on his bandaged leg and he felt a coolness seep through it. An ice pack then?  
Arthur looked to the goblin now more confused than ever. Why would he tend to his wounds like this? It didn’t make any sense. Goblins loved seeing others in pain and causing that pain. What would a goblin have to gain from reducing his pain?  
The goblin then gathered up the supplies he’d brought in his hands and went back to the window. He then turned to look at Arthur with a mistrustful stare.  
“I suggest you get some sleep. It’s late and I’ll be back in the morning,” with that the goblin left the tower, locking the shutters behind him.  
Arthur was left in the dark room alone for the rest of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t hard for Vivi to sneak out to the stables. A simple invisibility spell and no one saw anything. Once there she saw a large bag full of food, water, potion ingredients, camping equipment, and a few changes of clothes suited for travel. After making sure she did have everything she needed she gave the bag a quick weightless enchantment and made her way to the kingdom’s borders.   
This was a bit more of a difficult task. Having more than one spell going at once would be draining, especially when she hadn’t gotten any sleep, and she had no idea what she’d face on her mission to save Arthur. So invisibility was out of the question.   
Luckily the night was dark and not many people were out at this hour. The few guards that patrolled the streets were easy enough to hide from as long as she kept to the shadows and stayed quiet.   
It took some time but eventually she moved away from the village and out to farm land. By the time she got to the edge of the kingdoms borders the sun was peaking over the horizon. It wouldn’t be long until Lance found out about her being gone and would probably send out a search party for her. She needed to get far enough from the kingdom so they wouldn’t find her and stop her.  
Remembering Duet’s words about a friend meeting her at the edge of the kingdom she pulled out the small whistle he’d given her. Putting it to her lips she blew letting out a sound that carried a long way. If there was anyone around, they would surely hear it.  
Vivi waited, for a time nothing happened. That was until she heard something. It sounded almost like a horse but different, more like the sound of a dog running only far too large. Just then she saw it. The form of a giant white and red fox with six tails was seen, running towards her fast.  
Vivi’s eyes went wide in fear as the beast came closer, hands glowing in panic. However, before she could even think of a spell to cast the creature was in front of her and she had no time to do anything.   
Then there was a voice, it was deep and fearsome yet gave a feeling of safety and protection. “Are you the one who blew the whistle?”  
Vivi blinked and looked around, had the voice come from the creature? It must have, there was no one else around.  
“Well?” came the voice again and even if the fox’s mouth didn’t move it was now clear it came from the large fox.  
The magic in Vivi’s hand dissipated and she gave a nod. “Are you the person Duet said would meet me?” she asked.  
The fox gave a nod. “I was told to take you to the goblin realm, are you sure that is where you wish to go?” he asked.  
Vivi fixed the fox with a determined gaze. “A demon sent my lover there to die. I will not let that happen. Take me to the goblin realm as fast as you are able,” Vivi answered.  
The fox nodded and then bent down so he was level with Vivi. “Alright then, climb onto my back, it is a long way to the goblin realm and it will be faster if I carry you,” he told her.  
Vivi did as she was told and made herself comfortable between the fox’s shoulder blades. “By the way what should I call you? I don’t think you’d like me calling you big fox monster the whole way there,” Vivi asked.  
The fox looked back at her before answering, “Mystery, my name is Mystery”  
“Mystery? Well I guess that’s appropriate. Come on let’s get going,” Vivi said.  
Mystery faced forward once more and started running. Vivi had to quickly grab his fur to stop from falling off. The fox was faster than any horse she had ever ridden, and a smile formed on her face. Hang in there Arthur, she was coming.  
-  
Arthur cracked an eye open and was met with a black stone ceiling. He squinted in confusion, wasn’t his ceiling white?  
He blinked trying to remember what happened last night. He was at his wedding and about to propose to Vivi when… his eyes snapped open. The demon, being transported to the thorn forest, the goblin, he remembered everything.  
He shot up in panic only to instantly regret it. Pain shot up his leg and he screamed against the gag he now remembered was still in his mouth. He collapsed back on the bed as new tears streamed down his face. He was still in the goblin realm and being held captive by a goblin, one who would be back soon according to what he said last night.  
Arthur made a pitiful sad sound as he curled in fear. The goblin might not have hurt him last night but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt him now. Maybe he’d been tired last night and he hadn’t felt like it. Though that didn’t explain why he’d cleaned his scrapes and bandaged his sprained ankle.  
Speaking of which; he looked down to his ankle to see that the ice pack was still there and had melted. Seeing it wasn’t doing much anymore he picked it up and the water sloshed inside it. This, however, brought up a new and currently more urgent problem. Arthur hadn’t used a bathroom since yesterday and now he really needed to go.  
Looking around the room, his eyes landed on a door next to his bed. Hoping it was what he thought it was he started maneuvering himself to the door, making sure not to move his ankle too much. To his relief the door was unlocked and on the other side was indeed a bathroom. Now came the problem of getting inside with only one working leg. After many failed attempts that resulted in many pained screams muffled by the gag he eventually decided the best way was to go in on his hands and knees and crawl in. He was glad no one was around to see him.   
After finishing his business Arthur went to go back to bed so he could think about what to do next when he heard the sound of the shutters being opened and his heart stopped. The goblin was back.   
Arthur backed away from the door and curled up in the corner of the bathroom. He knew hiding from him would probably only provoke the goblin more but he wasn’t ready to face whatever he had planned for him just yet.  
There was a moment of tense silence before there was the clatter of something being dropped and then the sound of things being lifted and pushed aside before silence again. Arthur could faintly hear what sounded like the goblin muttering, “No, no, no,” but he couldn’t quite tell. Just then the door to the bathroom was flung open and purple eyes locked onto Arthur’s trembling form.  
For a brief second Arthur thought he saw relief in the goblin’s eyes before anger replaced it and he was suddenly grabbed and picked up. Arthur cowered in the goblin’s hold as he was taken out of the bathroom and thrown back on the bed. He bit down hard on the gag as his ankle shot another wave of pain through his leg and let out a small whimper. He curled up on the bed waiting for whatever torment the goblin was going to put him through. It was clear he hadn’t been happy to not find him in the bed when he got there.  
It took a good 10 minutes for Arthur to realize he wasn’t in anymore pain and calmed down enough to look up at the goblin questioningly. He was met with eyes that held the same confusion as before and wait was that regret? No, that wasn’t possible, he was probably just imagining. His mind was just playing tricks on him from all the fear.  
Still after another few minutes of them just staring at each other the goblin moved to pick something up. Arthur flinched and pressed himself back against the wall fearful of what it might be. What it turned out to be helped him relax a bit though. It was a tray with a plate of pancakes on it. That must have been what had been dropped, luckily nothing seemed to have been spilled or ruined. The glass that looked like it once held orange juice however was empty and there was an orange puddle on the floor from where the goblin picked it up.  
After placing the tray in front of Arthur the goblin took the glass, and went into the bathroom. There was the sound of running water and the goblin came back with the glass full of water and wet rag. He placed the glass on the tray then went over to the spill and used the rag to clean it up.  
Arthur just stared at the goblin as this happened. He just kept doing more and more things that confused him.  
Once the juice had been cleaned up the goblin turned back to Arthur. He looked down to the tray of food before looking back up at Arthur. A look of realization then crossed his features and he walked over to the elf.   
Arthur then flinched back as the goblin reached out to him again, he then felt something being pressed into his hand. He looked down to see two small pills. The glass of water was then placed in his other hand.  
“Take these after I take off the gag, they’ll help make your ankle feel better,” the goblin ordered before reaching behind Arthur’s head and untying the knot with ease. Arthur felt the relief of being able to close his mouth after hours of it being forced open.  
It was then he remembered what the goblin wanted him to do and quickly shoved the pills into his mouth and swallowed them down with a gulp of water. He wasn’t very comfortable taking a substance he didn’t know what would do to him, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Once the pills were down he looked down at the plate of food in front of him.  
He looked up to the goblin nervously as he took the knife and fork and started to cut the pancakes. The goblin didn’t do anything to stop him so he assumed that he wanted him to eat. After taking the first bight, Arthur nearly gaged. Not because it was bad but because he hasn’t expected it to tastes this amazing. Quickly he dug into the rest of the food.  
He ate in silence as the goblin just watched him. It was awkward and tense but the last thing Arthur wanted to do was try to talk and have the gag back before he was done eating. He hadn’t realized how hungry he’d been until he’d seen the pancakes. He really shouldn’t have been surprised as he hadn’t even had dinner last night.  
Once the pancakes were gone the goblin took the tray and handed Arthur a notebook and pen. Arthur looked down at the writing utensils then back up to the goblin in confusion. What was he supposed to do with these?  
“I’m going to ask you some questions now and you better answer them truthfully,” the goblin told him.  
Arthur nodded but still didn’t understand why he was handed the pen and paper. Not getting an answer he decided that he’d risk asking. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. His eyes went wide and he pressed a hand to his throat and continued to try and fail to make words come out. Panic started to set in and he looked fearfully back up at the goblin.  
“Don’t worry it’s not permanent, it’s just a better option than the gag,” the goblin explained.  
The explanation didn’t really make Arthur feel that much better but he did manage to get his panic under control. At least now he understood why he was given the pen and paper. Quickly he opened the note book and scribbled a messy ‘why?’ on the first page.  
“You know perfectly why, elf,” the goblin growled and Arthur decided it was best not to ask any more questions.  
The goblin fixed Arthur with a stern look before speaking again, “How did you get here? The border is impossible to cross, for both elves and goblins.”  
Arthur quickly wrote down a short explanation of the demon showing up and him getting in the way of one of its spells that sent him to the forest.   
The goblin read over the story before letting out a small growl. “You’re saying you didn’t mean to come here?” he asked.  
‘Of course not, what reason would I have to come here?’ Arthur answered in the notebook.  
The goblin’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t think we have forgotten the tales of your kind enslaving our people elf!” he snarled.  
Arthur’s eyes went wide in both shock and fear at the outburst and curled back, worried he might take his anger out on him. When he was sure that wasn’t going to happen he relaxed a little and hurriedly scribbled, ‘but there is no history of elves enslaving goblins.’ Arthur was honestly confused at this point.  
“LIES!” the goblin bellowed and Arthur found himself being grabbed around the neck and slammed against the wall.  
The elf dropped the pen and notebook as he flung his arms up in defense. Tears sprang to his eyes as he waited for the hit, but it didn’t come. Instead he was dropped back down on the bed and to his surprise not even his ankle hurt from the rough treatment. Guess he was at least telling the truth about the pills helping with that. That didn’t slow the rate of his heart any as he looked back to the angry goblin.  
“Why do you keep acting like that?” the goblin seethed.   
Arthur scrambled around to grab the pen and notebook before writing down, ‘act like what?’  
“That? Why are you acting all scared and weak? I thought elves were supposed to be all proud and manipulative. Is this some kind of trick you’re playing?” the goblin growled.  
‘No, no trick. I’m acting scared because I am. I’m scared you’ll hurt me,’ was the barely legible answer Arthur wrote.   
Confusion was back on the goblin’s face as he read the message. For a moment Arthur wondered if his scared hand writing was too hard for him to read, but eventually the goblin huffed and shook his head.  
“Why would I hurt you?” he asked.  
‘Because that’s what goblin’s do,’ was Arthur’s reply. Now he was getting a headache from all the confusion. Sure this goblin hadn’t hurt him like the stories had said he would but he couldn’t possibly be unaware that goblins were supposed to torture elves could he?  
The confusion just remained on the goblin’s face as he stared at the notebook. “I would never harm anyone unless I had to defend myself or they hurt someone else. So far you haven’t done anything that would make me need to hurt you,” the goblin explained.  
The two stared at each other for a long time, both not knowing how to react to the other. Eventually the goblin sighed and walked to the window.  
“I need to go but I’ll be back around noon,” with that he flew out closing the shutters behind him.  
Arthur sighed, his head now swimming with thoughts that didn’t make any sense. Letting out a breath he lay back down on the bed and tried to make sense of everything.


	4. Chapter 4

Mystery had been running for what Vivi guessed was several miles and the sun had just started to rise high. She didn’t think about much other than what she was going to do once she found Arthur. The goblin realm may have been hostel and deadly but Arthur was smart and could keep himself safe for a while. Still she was ready to face whatever she needed to get him back, even if it meant fighting an army of goblins to do it.  
She was so focused in her thoughts she didn’t notice Mystery slowing down until he’d stopped. Vivi looked to him confused before frowning.  
“Why did you stop?” she asked, a bit annoyed that they weren’t getting any closer to Arthur now.  
“It has been several hours and you need food,” Mystery answered.  
“But…” Vivi tried but was cut off.  
“No buts I know you haven’t had anything to eat since you left the castle and it has been a long time since then, and may I also assume you didn’t sleep at all last night?” Mystery interrupted.  
“I’m fine, I’ll eat and rest once we get Arthur,” Vivi retorted. Of course her argument was shattered when her stomach growled   
“Right, of course you are,” Mystery shot back, “It’s still a long ways to the goblin realm there is no way that it would be healthy for you not to eat and sleep before then.”   
“I’m not leaving Arthur in that horrible place any longer than I have to,” Vivi shouted.  
“And how much help will you be to him when you are too drained to even cast a simple levitation spell?” Mystery argued, “Besides if you want me to keep accompanying you then I must at least be allowed to hunt for myself. I will be back in an hour. I suggest you at least have something to eat while I’m gone.”  
Vivi huffed but knew Mystery had a point. She needed to be at her top game if she wanted to have any hope of rescuing Arthur. Sighing she got off Mystery’s back and started to open her pack of food. Seeing this, Mystery ran off to get himself something to eat as well.   
As she waited for Mystery to come back Vivi ate an apple, a peace of dried meet, and a slice of bread. She decided she’d save as much as she could, not knowing how well fed Arthur would be once she found him. It was very possible he had nothing to eat since yesterday morning. The thought filled her with dread and it made her all that more determined to find him as fast as she could.  
Unfortunately, with the hot sun coming down on her coupled with getting no sleep the previous night along with the stress of everything that had been happening she started to sway from exhaustion. It wasn’t long before she was curled up on the grass asleep.  
-  
The goblin did come back at noon, along with a tray with a sandwich on it. There was an awkward silence as Arthur ate and the goblin watched him. Once the sandwich and water were gone the goblin took the tray and left, leaving Arthur alone once more.  
The goblin came back once more that evening with a plate of stake mashed potatoes and peas. There was another uncomfortable silence as Arthur ate until he noticed another pill. Curious he held it up and gave the goblin a questioning look.  
“It’s just for your leg this time I promise. You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to though,” the goblin said not making eye contact.  
Arthur looked down at the pill and looked at it for a while. He didn’t know if he trusted the goblin but he really hadn’t done anything all that bad to him. The worst he’d done was made him mute, and it was done to make it so he didn’t need to use the gag. Arthur still wasn’t quite clear why the goblin didn’t want him talking but it was far from what the goblins in the stories he’d been told did. Of course he wasn’t going to do anything to push his luck. Also his ankle was really starting to hurt again and any relief from the pain would be nice.  
Knowing he’d chicken out if he waited any longer he quickly swallowed down the pill with a gulp of water. He then looked up to the goblin timidly wondering if anything would happen.  
The goblin though, after seeing that, widened his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d take it,” he confessed, “I mean after what one of the last pills did…”  
Arthur gave a small shrug, and looked away.  
The goblin looked down at his claws awkwardly then turned to the window. He looked back over his shoulder to say, “I’ll be back same time tomorrow.” The window was once again closed behind him as he took off.  
-  
As he had promised Mystery had only left for an hour to go hunt before returning to where he’d left Vivi. However, when he got there he was shocked at what he saw, or rather what he didn’t see. Vivi was gone.  
Her bag lay open on the ground but there was no sign of her. There were no visible marks of a struggle either. It was as if Vivi had just vanished.  
However, there was something different about the area. A soft sent of cherry blossoms filled the fox’s senses and he let out a low growl. Without any warning he quickly bolted off across the field and into the woods. If Vivi was missing for the reason he thought she was, he needed to find her as fast as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah not much happening in this chapter, mostly just build up for the next one. I promise the next chapter will be more exciting. Vivi get's into some trouble. ^^  
> Also I'm up for suggestions for things her and Mystery to face while on their trip to the goblin realm. They need to be slowed down enough for Lewis and Arthur to start bonding.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning started pretty much like the first, though Arthur was less panicked when he realized where he was. Also there was no urgent need to use the bathroom so he was still in the bed when the goblin came in.  
On the tray this time was a plate of eggs and bacon. There was also a glass of milk along with another pill. Arthur looked to the pill before swallowing it down with milk. He was able to feel the pain relief in his ankle quickly after.  
He then started to eat the eggs when he saw the goblin giving him an odd look. Picking up his notebook he wrote down a quick, ‘What?’ The writing was still rather shaky as he was far from no longer being scared of the goblin.  
The goblin quickly looked away. “It’s just kind of strange, you’re not…” he shook his head, “Why are you still taking the pills even after what one of them did to you? You’re also obviously scared of me, I just don’t understand.”  
Arthur nervously fidgeted with the pen before writing, ‘I don’t know. Yeah I’m still scared of you, but I don’t think you’d try to do the same kind of thing to me twice. Also, I don’t want to make you mad.’ The last part was scribbled down so fast it was almost impossible to make out.  
“But I thought I told you that you didn’t have to take it if you didn’t want to. I wouldn’t have been mad,” the goblin pointed out.  
‘I didn’t know that,’ was what he got in response.  
The goblin blinked before looking up and locking eyes with Arthur. “You really thought I’d hurt you when I brought you here didn’t you?” he asked.  
Arthur looked down and gave a small nod. He then scribbled down a quick, ‘Yeah, I’m still kinda scared you will. It’s just what I’ve been told about goblins since I was little.’ A realization then came over him and he added, ‘Guess it was the same with you and the stories of elves enslaving goblins, right?’  
The goblin looked a bit uncomfortable after reading and nodded. “Yeah, there were a lot of stories of elves able to control goblins with just a few words. The goblin would know everything they were made to do but would be unable to do anything but follow orders,” the goblin explained.  
Arthur bit his lip, hesitating before writing, ‘Is that why you muted me?’  
The goblin looked at the ground before nodding.   
Arthur nodded back in understanding.   
The goblin looked around awkwardly before his eyes landed on the plate in Arthur’s lap. “You should finish eating,” he said.  
Arthur looked down at his plate and took a few bites. After he had finished the plate he looked up to the goblin. Like before the goblin took the plate and flew back out of the room closing the shutters behind him.  
For a few hours Arthur sat in his room bored. He’ had plenty on his mind the day before to keep him from boredom but now the shock of everything had worn off and even if the confusing thoughts were still swirling in his head, they weren’t as pressing as before. Turning over in his bed he looked to the notebook he used to communicate. He really didn’t have anything else to occupy him. So taking the note book and pen he turned to the first page and started doodling on the edge of the page.  
At first they weren’t really drawings of anything just random swirls and shapes but eventually one line curved up into a shape that looked far too much like Vivi’s smile. A sharp pain gripped his heart and the pen trembled in his hold. Quickly he flipped to a blank page and started sketching. He became so engrossed in his drawing that he didn’t notice how much time passed until he heard the shutters unlatch and the sound of the goblin’s feet on the floor.   
Arthur looked up to see the goblin looking at him intently. Arthur tilted his head as if to ask what he was staring at.   
The goblin shook his head before looking away. He then placed the tray of food he’d been holding down and went over to look at what Arthur had been drawing. Arthur looked down a little nervously not sure what the goblin found so interesting.  
“Who’s that?” the goblin finally asked.  
Arthur blinked before finally realizing he’d been asked a question. Hastily on the next page he answered, ‘Her name’s Vivi she is… was going to be my wife before that demon sent me here.’  
The goblin had an unreadable look on his face for a short while before sadly looking to Arthur. “Oh… sorry,” he apologized, looking away.  
Arthur quickly shook his head and scribbled, ‘No it’s ok, you didn’t do anything wrong.’  
“No it’s not that it’s just…” the goblin shook his head again, “You must miss her a lot.”  
Arthur looked down sadly before writing, ‘More than anything.’  
There was a heavy silence as the sad feeling lingered. Eventually the goblin looked up and his eyes landed on the drawing of Vivi. “She’s very pretty,” he commented.  
Arthur was a bit startled by this but smiled and nodded. ‘Yes she is, she’s also the kindest person you could ever meet, unless you make her angry then she’s the scariest,’ he replied.  
That got a laugh out of the goblin. “She sounds like a great woman,” he then stopped laughing and grew sad again, “You were really lucky to find someone like that.”  
‘Yeah, I was,’ Arthur agreed.  
The silence filled the room again and the goblin looked away nervously. After a few minutes he looked back up to Arthur though didn’t make eye contact. “Uh I just realized that I never learned your name,” he said awkwardly.  
Arthur blinked, that was true he’d been here almost two days and they still didn’t know each other’s names. Taking his pen he quickly wrote out his name then underneath he asked, ‘What’s yours?’  
The goblin tensed wings brisling slightly. Arthur pulled back quickly feeling he’d done something wrong, the fear that he’d still be hurt by the goblin resurfacing.  
At seeing this, the goblin quickly reached out to comfort him, but found that was the wrong move as Arthur flinched back and gave a silent whimper. He retracted his hand and looked away as his wings sagged. He then wordlessly turned to the window, leaving the same way as always.  
Arthur remained curled up on the bed; he didn’t feel like drawing anymore.  
-  
The first thing Vivi noticed as she woke was that she was laying on something soft, much softer than the grass in the meadow she’d fallen asleep in. Opening her eyes she was met with a wooden ceiling and she could smell something cooking from the other room. Getting up she found she was in a small bed in a room she’d never seen before. In a panic she scrabbled out of the bed and to the door.   
Upon opening it she saw a short hall leading to what looked like a living room with a small kitchen next to it. It was what was in the kitchen that caught her eye though, or rather who.  
In the kitchen stood a tall woman in a white dress with a red and pink flower pattern on it. Her hair was pure white yet she hardly looked old at all, but that wasn’t the strange thing about her. Her skin was a pail blue and from a certain angle almost looked to have the texture of wood. Still that didn’t shock her as much as the blooming chary tree that seemed to be growing out of the woman’s head.  
The woman looked up from the pan she’d been watching and gave Vivi a warm smile, though it sent an uneasy shiver down her spine.  
“Good morning dear, would you like some breakfast?” The woman asked.   
“Um…” Vivi blinked, “Sorry, but who are you? And where am I?”  
The woman gave another smile that Vivi had to stop herself from shivering at. “Oh yes, my name is Shiro and this is my home,” the woman introduced.  
“Well uh it’s nice to meet you and thanks for letting me use your bed but I really need to get going soon,” Vivi said turning to the door only to be shocked to find the woman suddenly standing in front of it.  
“Nonsense, I’m sure whatever it is you need to do can wait until after breakfast,” Shiro assured.  
“Actually, my fiancé is in danger and I need to get to him before something really bad happens to him,” Vivi protested.  
The woman just shakes her head with the same creepy smile. “No no, you need to eat something.”  
“Lady look, I’ve tried to be nice but I’m not going to waste time here while the man I love could be hurt or worse. Now let me leave,” Vivi demanded.  
The woman’s smile turned into a glare and Vivi felt she just made a huge mistake. “Sit down and have your breakfast young lady,” the woman scolds.  
Despite being rather unnerved at this point, Vivi knew she needed to get out of here and back to finding Arthur as fast as she could. “Not happening now let me out. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” Her hands start to glow with an entrapment spell only to feel something wrap around her arms and legs. She looked down to see thick black vines winding around her limbs.  
“Hey!” Vivi shouted and pulled against the vines, “Let me go.”  
The vines were holding her arms tightly preventing her from moving them at all let alone enough to cast any spells. The vines then yank back and she was slammed into the back wall. Vivi let out a loud hiss as her head met the hard wood harshly.  
“I asked you nicely but you didn’t listen. Now hold still, you’ll make a very beautiful flower so I’d rather not have your petals crumpled,” Shiro said.  
“Wait what?!” Vivi asked, fear starting to settle in her stomach.  
More black vines took the pan Shiro was mixing and it was clear what was in it wasn’t food. Vivi started struggling harder against the bonds. “There are two ways we can do this. You can be cooperative and take this like a good girl or those vines could start to grow thorns and I can poor this in your cuts. Either way works just as well though I’d prefer if things didn’t get messy.”   
“Lady I don’t know what you’re deal is but there is no way I’m drinking that. Now let me go!” Vivi growled.  
Shiro sighed. “It always has to be the hard way doesn’t it.”  
Vivi then suddenly felt several sharp thorns pierce her skin and start digging into her. She let out a pained cry as her struggling stopped, feeling the thorns going deeper as she tried to pull away. She shut her eyes against the pain but even so a few tears made their way down her face. It was the first time in her life Vivi felt completely powerless and afraid.  
“Last chance girl, all the pain will stop if you just surrender right now and do as you’re told,” Shiro negotiated.  
Vivi grit her teeth for a few moments knowing all that would come out of her mouth at that point would be more screams of pain. Eventually she opened her eyes and glared at the woman in front of her. “I don’t care what you do to me; I will not let you turn me into a flower or anything else. I’ll go through far worse than this if it means saving Arthur and it’ll take a lot more to make me roll over and submit.”  
At these words Shiro made an angry growl, “Fine, if you wish to create more agony for yourself then so be it.”   
She raised her hand and Vivi felt the vines begin to tighten, the thorns now starting to draw blood. Another scream of pain escaped her throat mixed with a helpless cry. No she couldn’t let this happen. She needed to get to the goblin realm, she needed to save Arthur, but she couldn’t even think strait enough to remember a spell let alone have the ability to cast one. There was nothing she could do to save herself.  
A loud earsplitting howl then cut through the air and Vivi felt the vines slacken, but only a bit. They were no longer digging in to her flesh but they were still tight enough to keep her immobile. Still her focus was now on Shiro who had her eyes fixed on the door looking rather terrified.  
“No! How did one find me so fast?” the woman snarled. She then turned back to Vivi. “I’ll just have to be quick about this then.”  
The vines started to tighten again and Vivi let out another gasp of pain and dark spots danced over her vision. However, before she completely blacked out the door was broken down and in came Mystery all six tails blazing with fire.  
“Let her go!” Mystery’s voice boomed.  
Shiro glared daggers at the fox. “I don’t think so, mutt,” she growled, sending more vines Mystery’s way.  
The large fox ducked out of the way and sent a wave of fire at the vines. The vines recoiled back but were still hit sending a shutter threw the whole house. The vines around Vivi went limp and she fell to the floor but was still too disoriented to get up.  
Mystery lunged at Shiro who sent up a wall of dark vines in front of her to block him. Mystery let out a dark roar as his claws dug into the black foliage. He just needed to get past Shiro and grab Vivi, but the woman wasn’t making it easy.  
Just then the wall of vines moved and slammed into him, making him crash in to the wall behind him. He let out a groan but quickly got back up and turned back to Shiro. Shiro smiled darkly as her vines once again started growing sharp thorns and shot forward at Mystery.  
Mystery jumped out of the way but his hind leg was still snagged by a vine and its thorns dug deep into his skin. The fox let out a pained yelp but didn’t yield. Fire ignited in his mouth and blasted the vine away from his leg. He then breathed more fire onto the vines making them curl away.  
Shiro hissed in anger and motioned more thorny vines to attack Mystery. This time Mystery didn’t have time to dodge and the vines wrapped around his tails.  
“Let’s see how powerful you are without your tails, mutt,” Shrio laughed as the vines started to yank hard on the fox’s tails.   
Mystery howled in agony and turned to rip the vines from his tails only for another to wrap around his snout and legs.   
Mystery’s howls of pain finally got Vivi to pull together the strength to stand. She looked to Mystery being attacked by Shiro and started to panic. Mind still hazy she knew there was no way she’d be able to think of a spell in time to save him. It was then she saw a large knife laid out on the kitchen counter. Not giving herself time to back out she ran to the counter and grabbed the knife before turning and plunging it into Shiro’s back.  
There was a loud, inhuman shriek of pain as Vivi pulled out the knife and a thick sap like substance poured out of the wound. What in the world was this woman?  
Shiro then turned to Vivi and was about to attack her again when Mystery pulled free of the vines and lunged at her. Shiro was knocked to the ground and pinned under the massive fox’s paws.  
“Vivi quick! The tree on her head, that’s where you need to cut,” Mystery barked and Vivi ran over to them. She then held the knife above the woman’s head and plunged it down completely severing the tree from her head. There was another unholy shriek before Shiro fell limp and her body started to rot away like an old log.  
Vivi panted as she looked up at Mystery. “What was that?” she asked, still wide eyed.  
“That was a wood witch. They turn people into plants to use them in their potions,” Mystery said tiredly, the high from the fight now waring off.   
“Wait she wanted to turn me into a plant, then make a potion out of me?” Vivi questioned in disgust.  
“Yeah that’s what I said,” Mystery answered, “apparently they believe the soul energy makes their magic more powerful. They’re delusional but dangerous.”  
“No kidding,” Vivi agreed before trying to stand up, “Come on we got to get moving again. Arthur…” She didn’t get very far as black started to swim in front of her eyes again and she stumbled.  
Mystery quickly held out a tail to make sure she didn’t fall. “You’re hurt, you need to tend to your wounds before we go anywhere,” he told her.  
“I’m fine,” she argued stubbornly.   
“Vivi, do I have to repeat what I said about not taking care of yourself only hurting Arthur in the long run?” Mystery asked.  
Vivi sighed and relented, “Fine, but can we first get out of this creepy place?”  
“Of course,” the large canine gently picked her up in his tails and carried her out of the house.   
-  
There was once again silence as Arthur ate his dinner. Looking down at the pill he quickly swallowed it down before glancing up at the goblin. He hadn’t moved from his spot in the far corner since he’d handed him the food.  
Arthur put down his fork and stared down at his food. Even if it was delicious as ever he didn’t have much of an appetite.   
Pushing the tray away he grabbed his note book and started writing. He then held it up so the goblin could see. ‘I’m sorry,’ was scrawled on the page, large enough for the goblin to see from the other side of the room.  
The goblin frowned in confusion. “Sorry for what?” he asked.   
‘I did something to upset you. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it,’ Arthur answered.  
“Oh,” the goblin looked down and his wings sagged, “No it’s not that. I just don’t want to scare you again.”  
Arthur blinked but quickly wrote down, ‘but I made you uncomfortable when I asked your name. I just thought that since you asked my name it was ok to ask yours. I’m sorry.’  
The goblin shook his head before stepping closer. Arthur did his best to remain relaxed as he did. He was still scared of him but if he didn’t want him to be then he’d do his best to not show it.  
The goblin halted a few feet away and played with his claws awkwardly. “Don’t apologize it’s not anything you did. Asking someone’s name after they ask you is normal. The way I reacted wasn’t.” He dropped his hands and wrapped his wings around him slightly. “It’s just, the tales about elves always cautioned never to tell one anything about you since they’ll use it against you. Even giving one your name was dangerous.”  
Arthur’s eyes went wide in understanding and quickly started to write down a response. ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was pushing you. I promise I’d never use anything against you and I won’t ask any more questions. I’m sor…’  
He was cut off by a hand grabbing his own and stopping his writing. Arthur froze at the sudden contact, having to stop himself from flinching away. Watery amber eyes met sad purple ones, Arthur no longer being able to hide the fear in his.  
“Lewis,” the goblin finally said.  
Arthur blinked, confusion once again taking over his features.  
“Lewis, that’s my name,” the goblin repeated, releasing Arthur’s hand.  
Arthur looked back down at his notebook, the confusion not leaving his features. ‘But I thought you didn’t trust enough to tell me,’ was what he replied.  
“Arthur,” Lewis said, and Arthur felt his heart speed up at hearing his name being spoken in that low voice, though it wasn’t because he was scared, “It’s hard trying to get past what I’ve been told for so many years, but ignoring what I’m seeing in front of me and only believing stories that I don’t even know are true is wrong.”  
Arthur nodded. He understood, it wasn’t right to keep being scared of Lewis when he hadn’t done anything to hurt him just because a bunch of stories told him too. Unfortunately it didn’t seem he wasn’t going to get over his fear of the other so easily.  
As if the goblin had read his mind Lewis continued, “I don’t think I’m able to trust you yet, just like I doubt you’ll stop fearing me any time soon, but we’re kinda stuck like this until I can find a way to get you across the border. So it’s best that we try to get over this as best we can.”  
Arthur nodded and gave a small smile. Lewis gave a smile back and Arthur had to admit he looked nice when he smiled.  
They stayed quiet like that for a short time before Lewis looked down at Arthur’s unfinished meal. “Aren’t you going to finish eating?” he asked.  
Arthur looked down at his plate before shaking his head. ‘No, I don’t really feel that hungry anymore,’ he answered.  
Lewis nodded and took the plate. “Alright, but expect an extra-large breakfast then,” he promised before leaving.  
Arthur laughed silently before curling up on the bed. For the first time since he’d ended up in the goblin realm he went to sleep happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes as you all probably guessed Shiro was the one to take Vivi. Don't worry though this isn't going to be her only appearance.


	6. Chapter 6

“Can’t you go any faster? You were running twice the speed of a horse yesterday,” Vivi complained from her position on Mystery’s back.  
“Not unless you want to reopen your wounds again,” Mystery answered.  
Vivi sighed as she rested her head against Mystery’s neck. Most of her body was wrapped in bandages and she was still in a lot of pain from the punctures she’d gotten from the thorns. They had spent all last night bandaging her up and then resting as Mystery let his own injuries heal, luckily he was a much faster healer than her. She appreciated his protectiveness over her but at the same time she wished he’d have the same urgency to save Arthur as she had.   
If she wasn’t so exhausted that casting a healing spell on herself wouldn’t have done more harm than good, she would have done it by now. Instead she was forced to lie on the giant fox’s back as he slowly carried her out of the forest.   
The forest path twisted and turned sometimes feeling like it went in circles. If it wasn’t for the soulmate stone pulsing a constant bright yellow in Vivi’s hands they would have become completely lost.   
The warmth of the stone however, was making her even sleepier and the slow walking movements of Mystery underneath her wasn’t helping. She was just about to doze off when Mystery suddenly stopped and she was jostled awake.  
“Huh? What’s going on?” she asked still a bit groggy.  
“This is not the same forest I came threw to find you,” Mystery replied, looking around.   
Vivi frowned in confusion as she looked around and realized what Mystery meant. The trees all around them were much different than the ones they had passed. Their bark was gnarled and twisted into what almost looked like distorted faces and it had a sickly blue green tint to it. The limbs of the trees were so tangled that barely any light made its way through and it only grew darker the farther along the path. The worst part was a thick tar like substance had started to leak from the cracks in the wood and pooled in dark puddles around the roots.   
“No kidding,” Vivi agreed, giving a shutter, “Maybe we should turn around. This place basically screams bad news.”  
Mystery nodded and turned to go back the way they came only to find more of the same dark oozing trees.   
“Ok, so we have scary looking path number one and scary looking path number two. Or we could just stay here and wait for whatever did this to show up,” Vivi listed.  
“Well I don’t think waiting is an option,” Mystery replied and Vivi noticed the tension in his voice.  
“What do you…?” it was then she saw it. The black tar like substance had started to flow toward them, covering everything in an inky black. “Oh I see.”  
She gripped hard to Mystery’s main as he bolted down the path and away from the liquid. Unfortunately, as Mystery ran the trees they passed also started to have their oily sap start to reach for them.  
Vivi looked back to see there was now close to a river flowing after them.  
“Mystery, you’re going to have to go faster!” she pressed.  
Mystery put on another burst of speed and Vivi had to hiss back a cry of pain as her injuries flared up. She didn’t care right now; she just wanted to get away from that black whatever it was that was coming towards them.   
She chanced another look behind them and let out a gasp at seeing it nearly on top of them. She let out a scared shriek and buried her face in Mystery’s fur.  
Mystery noticed this and looked to see the river of tar so close. In an amazing stunt of acrobatics, he jumped, spun in midair, shot a large fire ball at the river and landed in the same position he’d been in. He didn’t stop to watch as the fireball made contact with the tar, igniting it in a monstrous inferno. The fire quickly started to climb up the trees as well and the forest was suddenly full of horrible screeching.  
“Ahh.” Vivi wished she could cover her ears but needed to keep a hold of Mystery who was still running at an incredible speed.   
It wasn’t long until the fire reached the trees around them and Mystery kept Vivi sheltered with his tails. All stray embers barely seemed to even be noticed by the large fox. Not even the flames licking all around them fazed him.  
The fire raged around them for what felt like forever, but a few hours later the shrieking died down as well as the flames. Mystery removed his tails and Vivi looked around at their surroundings of ash and charred wood.   
“I’d normally say that was overkill, but honestly I prefer this,” she commented, slumping against Mystery again. Now that they were no longer in danger she was starting to feel the rough treatment her wounds endured and she was starting to ache pretty bad all over.  
Mystery looked back at her before moving forward again. “Point me in the right direction and I’ll get us out of here. We’ll then tend to your injuries once we’ve left this place behind,” he informed her.   
Vivi didn’t have the strength to argue even if she wanted too and just nodded. “That way,” she pointed, continuing to just rest on Mystery’s back as he headed off in the indicated direction.  
-  
Lewis came into Arthur’s room like every time before, although, this time he carried a bag along with the tray of food.   
Arthur happily took the food and dug into the French toast just as wonderful as every meal he’d gotten since he’d been here. Once he was done he motioned to the bag Lewis had brought with him and looked to him questioningly.  
“Oh, I got you some fresh clothes. I didn’t think you’d be too comfortable wearing the same thing every day without it being washed,” Lewis explained.  
Arthur blushed realizing he’d been wearing the same clothes for three days now. Changing would probably be for the best. He nodded and held his hand out for the bag.  
Lewis handed it to him and Arthur turned to the bathroom door. He then looked down to his bandaged ankle. The painkillers had numbed the pain to the point it wasn’t noticeable but he still knew that putting too much weight on it would only injure it again and he wasn’t crawling on his hands and knees in front of Lewis.  
As if reading his mind Lewis spoke up. “I can help you into the bathroom this time if you need me too,” he offered, awkwardly looking away. “I’ll leave you alone to shower and change of course,” he quickly added, cheeks burning with embarrassment.  
Arthur covered his mouth with a hand as he tried to resist the silent laughter that was bubbling up from this throat. He eventually calmed down and gave a nod. That would be an acceptable alternative.  
Lewis saw the nod and went over to pick Arthur up and carry him into the bathroom. If it had been possible Arthur would have squeaked at being picked up. He then looked up at the goblin with an annoyed look. He didn’t need this much help, just something to lean on as he limped in. Lewis only gave a shy smile and Arthur pouted, though he didn’t miss the tint on the other’s cheeks.  
He looked away trying to hide his own blush as well as his speeding heart. Being picked up by the goblin had made his fear resurface for a moment but he’d managed to push it down. It wasn’t like he could be scared of someone who was giving him a look like that. He still wasn’t too happy about being carried around like a doll though, even if Lewis’ embarrassed face was funny.  
Once in the bathroom Lewis placed him down on the toilet before leaving; face still flushed a dark red. “Just knock on the wall if you need anything,” was the rushed words Arthur heard as the door was shut.  
Arthur laughed to himself soundlessly for a while after the goblin had left. He was trying to remember why he’d been so scared of him not that long ago. Just then the dozens of stories he’d been told about goblins came back to him and he frowned.   
He looked down to his bandaged ankle and bag of fresh clothes. He then thought back from the moment he’d first met Lewis. These past almost 3 days had made him question those stories several times. Still he couldn’t seem to shake the fear that gripped him every time he was reminded of Lewis’ sharp claws and incredible strength. If Lewis wanted he could do anything to Arthur and he’d be powerless to stop it. The thought made the prince shutter and he had to hold back from crying.  
No, Lewis wouldn’t do anything to him. He said so himself. In fact Lewis had been just as afraid of him at first and was trying to get over it and if Lewis could get over his fear so could he.  
Arthur took a breath and tried to relax. Ok, time to shower and change. He looked down at his ankle and bent down to take off the bandages, getting them wet was probably not a good idea.   
It wasn’t too hard getting undressed and into the tub. The bathroom was small so there was plenty to lean on.  
After his shower he opened the bag and pulled out a top and pants that were unsurprisingly not the best fit but worked ok. The simple white shirt went down to nearly his knees, and he had to stop it from sliding off one shoulder. He also had to make sure his hands went through the right holes as the shirt was of course meant for goblins and had holes in the back for the wings. Still he managed and then went to pull on the pants. Those like the shirt were much too big and he was thankful there was a string tie to tighten them. Once he’d cuffed the pants several times over until they were above his feet he gave a knock on the wall to tell Lewis he was finished.   
Lewis came in but instead of going to help Arthur out of the bathroom he stopped and stared at him. Arthur tilted his head wondering what Lewis was staring at.  
Lewis blinked, blushing as he snapped out of it. “Uh… your hair,” was all he could manage at that moment.  
Arthur was still confused for a minute before his eyes went wide in realization. His hair was always a mess after drying it after a shower and without even a comb to brush through it his hair was probably a giant ball of fuzz. The elf’s cheeks went red at that.  
Lewis stifles a chuckle before going over to the sink and pulling out a comb. Arthur nodded a thank you before running the comb through his hair to hopefully tame the worst of it. Once he was done he handed the comb back to Lewis who took and put it back exactly where he found it. He then turned to Arthur with a shy awkward smile.  
“Sorry about the clothes, I didn’t have any that were smaller,” he explained.  
Arthur nodded in understanding then motioned to the door. Lewis understood and helped the elf back to the bed. It was then he noticed Arthur’s ankle was no longer bandaged and quickly went to grab the bandages from the bathroom and wrap it up again. Arthur nodded in thanks and Lewis turned to the window. He then gave a wave before flying out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again not a lot happens in this chapter. Just some Lewthur feels and Vivi finding out a little more about Mystery. Don't worry we're getting to a good part soon.

Arthur was left alone again and it wasn’t long until boredom took him again. He sighed and picked up his notebook and started to doodle. He wasn’t even thinking about what he was drawing until he noticed the sharp fangs he’d just traced. He dropped the pen as he looked over what he’d drawn. It was Lewis but not the real Lewis. Not the kind being who was just as afraid and confused over this situation as he was. Arthur’s eyes looked over the deadly claws raised to strike and razor sharp teeth bared in hate, but those were nothing compared to the eyes that held nothing but blood lust and a desire to kill.  
Arthur quickly slammed the notebook shut, panting heavily. No that was not the Lewis he knew in real life but the image that had plagued his dreams since he’d come here. The fear of Lewis turning on him at any second was still present even if he could forget it sometimes.  
He took a few more breaths before calming down. He needed something to get his mind off his nightmares. He quickly flipped to another page and started to draw something else making sure to focus on every detail instead of letting his mind wonder back to the horrifying image before.   
Once again he got so wrapped up in his drawing he didn’t hear the sound to wings flapping at the window. In fact he didn’t notice Lewis was back until he’d spoke.  
“Whoa. Arthur, that’s amazing,” Lewis commented.  
Arthur jumped and turned around to face Lewis. He quickly calmed down after that but Lewis looked away guiltily.  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you… again,” he said, wings sagging.  
Arthur quickly sat up and waved his hands in a sign he didn’t mean it like that. ‘No it’s ok, you didn’t scare me. Just startled me, sorry,’ Arthur wrote to help calm Lewis down.   
It seemed to have the desired effect and Lewis regained enough confidence to come closer again and kneel down next to him. He then looked back down at the picture. “I’ve never seen anyone draw like that before. You really are amazing,” he complimented.  
Arthur blushed. ‘Thank you,’ he replied.  
“You’re welcome. I just have one question though. Why did you draw me?” Lewis asked.  
Arthur froze for a moment as he tried to think of an answer. He couldn’t tell Lewis the real reason, not without revealing his nightmares. He looked down at the picture of the smiling goblin holding a tray of food.   
‘I was feeling sad so I drew something to make me happy,’ he answered. It wasn’t really a lie, even if it was more of to remind him what Lewis was really like than to simply make him happy.  
“Oh,” it was Lewis’ turn to blush now, “Did it do that?”  
Arthur smiled and nodded. ‘Yeah, it did,’ he wrote.  
Lewis’ blush grew deeper. “That’s good, I’m glad it did,” he mumbled, trying to look anywhere other than Arthur. His eyes then landed on the picture again and he quickly looked away. “So do you like to draw? I mean this is the second time I’ve seen you do it.”  
‘Yeah I like it but it’s also kinda that I don’t really have anything else to do up here,’ Arthur replied.  
Lewis’ eyes went wide. “Oh man I’m so stupid. I was only giving you things you’d need to live not entertain you. No wonder you’re bored,” he berated himself.  
‘Hey it’s ok. We both had a lot on our minds the last few days. It’s not that important anyway,’ Arthur reassured.  
“Yes it is, I should have known,” Lewis argued.  
Arthur bit his lip trying to think of a way to reassure the goblin. Hesitantly he reached out to try and place his hand on Lewis’ shoulder but stopped. He’d just gotten the courage to place the hand down when Lewis stood back up and walked away.  
“I’ll come back at the normal time,” he told Arthur before once again flying out of the room.  
Arthur sighed and let his hand fall limply.  
-  
“Ah. Ow!” Vivi hissed as she tried to reapply her bandages.  
“You didn’t have this much trouble last time,” Mystery pointed out.   
“Last time I just needed to put the bandages on not take them off then put new ones on. This is twice as much movement. Ah,” Vivi dropped the bandages she was holding as she bit back a scream.  
Mystery sighed. “You’re not going to get anywhere like that. It’ll go much faster if I do it for you,” he said.  
“Do it for me? You don’t even have hands. How are you…?” she was cut off when she saw Mystery’s body shrink and change.   
It wasn’t long until the giant six tailed fox had turned into a young teen boy. He wore a white shirt and black pants and his red hair stood up in spikes reminding her almost of Arthur’s. If she didn’t know any better she wouldn’t have been able to tell he wasn’t anything different than a normal boy.  
“You can turn into an elf!” she gasped.  
Mystery frowned a bit and placed a hand on his rounded ears. “Actually I think I’m a human right now. I can turn into an elf though, or a goblin or pretty much any living thing really,” he told her nonchalantly.  
Vivi just stared at Mystery with her mouth hanging open as he took the bandages and started to wrap her wounds up again. He then looked up and quirked an eyebrow at her in response to her shock.  
“What? You’ve seen me run faster than a horse and shoot fire from my mouth. Is me changing form really that shocking to you?” he asked.  
Vivi closed her mouth and shook her head. “Oh, no I guess it shouldn’t be,” she sighed.  
Mystery nodded and continued to rebandage Vivi. Once all the bandages were changed Mystery stepped back ready to change to his true form again when he stopped. He closed his eyes and focused on listening.  
“I hear horses and the sound of armor clanking together,” Mystery informed her.  
Vivi frowned. “Can you tell if there friendly?” she asked.  
Mystery shook his head. “Not able to tell who they are just from those sounds. We should still hide until we know,” he answered.  
Vivi nodded and Mystery helped her into the thick brush near the edge of the forest. He remained human as they hid in order to hide himself better. Small humans were harder to spot than large monster foxes.  
The two stayed silent as the sound of horse hooves got closer. It was then that Vivi saw who it was and her eyes went wide. Those were royal elf soldiers, but what were they doing here? Oh right, of course Lance sent out a search party for her and that stupid wood which and oozing forest had slowed her and Mystery down enough for them to catch up. Well as long as she kept hidden they would just pass and she and Mystery would be able to get around them later. Still as they hid it didn’t mean she couldn’t hear what the soldiers were saying.  
“As much as I’m tempted to say it was rash of her to go off like that I understood why she did it,” one of the soldiers said obviously in a conversation with another.  
The other soldier nodded, “Love can make one do crazy things, but it is still crazy all the same.”   
“True, she may be the high mage’s apprentice but she is no trained fighter,” the first one agreed.  
Vivi had to bite back a growl at that. Not a trained fighter? What did they think Duet was teaching her? How to poof cakes out of thin air? If it wasn’t for Mystery keeping a hand on her shoulder she would have run right out of the brush and shown them just how ‘little’ of a trained fighter she really was.  
Eventually the soldiers moved on and the two stood up.   
“Thanks for holding me back. I probably would have tried to sock that guy in the face if you hadn’t,” Vivi thanked.  
“No problem, though if we weren’t on another mission I might have let you. The guy didn’t know what he was talking about. If I know Duet, you wouldn’t be an apprentice if you didn’t know how to at least defend yourself,” Mystery replied.  
“Trust me I know more than just how to defend myself. I just wish people would take using magic as a weapon seriously,” she sighed.  
“I’m sure I’ll get to see everything you’re able to do once we get to the goblin realm, but first we need to get there,” Mystery pointed out as he transformed back into his large fox form.  
Vivi nodded and climbed back onto Mystery’s back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk about a chapter that just didn't want to be written. It felt like it was fighting me all the way until the fight at the end but I got it done finally. Hopefully the next chapter will be easier.

As Lewis had said he came back at the same time he had the last two nights along with a tray of food. Although this time he also carried a large sack Arthur assumed were things to help entertain him. He wanted to say or more accurately write something to break the tension that had entered the room alone with Lewis but he couldn’t think of anything. So he just took the tray and stared eating in silence.  
He noticed Lewis was standing farther away again and he huffed, though it was more in annoyance with himself and not Lewis. Lewis had been able to pick him and carry him into another room and he’d hesitated at even laying a hand on his shoulder. Why couldn’t he get over his fear when Lewis seemed to have gotten over his so quickly?  
After finishing his dinner he pointed to the bag the goblin had brought with him. Lewis looked down at the bag and picked it up. He then walked over to the bed, keeping his eyes on Arthur to make sure that there was no sign of fear as he did so. Arthur made sure to keep his expression neutral and to ignore the instinct to run as Lewis got closer.  
“I got you something to help pass the time in here,” Lewis told him, confirming what he already thought.   
Lewis placed the bag in front of him and opened it. Inside was a deck of cards, several books and even an actual sketch book and pencils.  
“That’s all I could get right now, but I’ll try to bring more later,” Lewis said, “I’m sorry if it’s not a lot.”  
Arthur placed hand on Lewis’ arm to reassure him it was plenty and the goblin froze. Arthur worried he might have done something wrong when he realized what he’d done. The two looked at the elf’s hand for a while before Arthur looked up at Lewis and smiled. Lewis smiled back before getting up and heading over to the window. However, before he could leave Arthur raised his hand in a sign for him to stop. Lewis did and Arthur held up the deck of cards clearly asking for him to play. The goblin glanced to the window before smiling and turning back around.  
“Sure I guess I have time for a few rounds,” he agreed and went to sit next to Arthur as the elf sorted the cards.  
-  
It wasn’t hard for Vivi and Mystery to sneak past the soldiers meant to bring her back and get ahead of them again. They remained at the edge of the wood just in case as they still weren’t going at Mystery’s top speed to keep Vivi from getting hurt again. She’d been able to rest enough to be able to cast a healing spell on herself, but it was slow going and Mystery didn’t want to do anything to disrupt it.   
“Tell me when you’re finished, so I can speed up. I can still hear the soldiers not far behind us,” Mystery informed.  
Vivi sighed. “Just as long as they don’t see us, I really don’t want to have to argue with those idiots right now, or ever. Something must’ve been in those vines, it normally doesn’t take this long for a healing spell to work,” she complained.  
“It’s possible, I wouldn’t put anything past a wood witch,” Mystery replied.  
“Well at least it’s not stopping the spell from working, that would be really frustrating,” Vivi sighed.   
They continued to walk for a while more until Vivi said the healing was finally done. Mystery nodded and picked up his pace. However, that didn’t last long as they came to the bank of a large fast moving river.   
“Well that’s going to be a problem,” Vivi noted, “I can use a freezing spell, though the water might be going too fast for it to stick. Any ideas?”  
“Yes, but I’m going to have to change in order for it to work. You might want to get off me for that,” Mystery answered.  
“Oh,” Vivi nodded and quickly jumped off the large fox’s back.  
Mystery started to change shape as he went to standing on his back legs and held his front ones to his sides. Slowly his fur changed to feathers and his muzzle transformed into a beak. With his front legs turning into wings the transformation was complete. Mystery looked down at Vivi, now a giant bird of prey.  
“That’ll work,” Vivi said, getting ready to climb back onto Mystery’s back.  
Just when she did so, however, Mystery paused and looked farther upstream.   
“What’s wrong?” Vivi questioned   
“I hear fighting,” he explained before flapping his wings and taking off.  
“Whoa,” Vivi had to grip the feathers on Mystery’s back tightly in order to not fall off. It was then she saw it. Farther upstream the soldiers they had been avoiding were fighting what looked like a monster made of mud.  
“What in the world is that?” Vivi gasped.  
“Honestly I have no idea,” Mystery answered, “Should we help them?”  
Vivi frowned at the question. On one hand fighting the monster would expose them to the soldiers and take time away from getting closer to Arthur, but on the other it was clear the soldiers were no match for the monster. Giving a sigh she knew which one she had to choose. Arthur would torment himself far more than any goblin could if he found out that people had been hurt in order to save him.  
“Let’s go save their butts,” Vivi replied.  
Mystery nodded and swooped down towards the monster.  
Vivi charged her hands with a spell and once they were overhead of the monster let lose a giant thunderbolt at the creature. There was a deafening roar from the beast as it staggered back from the blow, but still stayed standing.  
Mystery swooped down ready to blast the monster with a fire ball when it brought an arm up to swat them down. Mystery was only able to change his cores just in time to dodge it but was unable to pull out of his dive in time to avoid hitting the ground.  
“Ahh,” Vivi cried as she was flung off the giant bird’s back.  
Huffing, Vivi got up and brushed herself off, it was then she noticed that she had landed right in front of the elf soldiers. There was a collective gasp from the soldiers as they all got a look at her.  
“Lady Vivian,” one of the soldiers, Vivi recognized as the one who said she couldn’t fight, exclaimed.  
“Yeah, that’s me. You looked like you guys needed some help,” she answered, trying not to let her annoyance distract her as she got ready to blast the monster with another lightning bolt.  
Mystery had gotten up and started distracting the beast and it gave Vivi a clear shot. Taking a stance to steady herself she let another bolt fly from her hands and strike the monster once more. It hit the creature square in the back just as Mystery breathed flames down on its head. About every soldier’s jaw dropped at seeing the immense power the young mage unleashed.  
Another horrible roar erupted from the beast and brought one of its fists down and another flung skywards in an attempt to crush its attackers. Vivi leapt out of the way just in time to avoid this fate as Mystery just managed to have the tips of his wings skimmed. Vivi looked back at the soldiers, who were still staring at her in awe, and huffed.  
“Hey, just because I showed I can fight this thing doesn’t mean I want to do it alone!” she shouted at them.  
Snapping out of there shock the soldiers nodded and quickly jumped back into the battle.   
Unfortunately, it soon became clear that their swords were doing little more than annoying the monster. As soon as one made a slice the beast’s mud like body would shift and close it up again. This also seemed to be the case with Vivi’s and Mystery’s attacks even if the creature showed more pain from them.  
“Ugh, what does it take to beat this thing?” Vivi complained, as another thunderbolt had no effect on the monster, “What did you even do to get this thing trying to kill you?”  
The soldiers all looked at each other before a new voice spoke up. “They did something unforgivable.”  
Vivi turned to see a large stone bridge with two statues standing on either side, how had she missed that? More importantly who had spoken?  
The left statue, a young woman in an elegant dress, turned to the other and pouted. “Now I wouldn’t say unforgivable. Honestly, summoning the river golem was a bit much for a mistake,” she scolded.  
“A mistake?” the statue on the right echoed, this one being a man in a prim business suit, “They violated our most important law.”  
“Which they obviously had no idea of, if you had just let me inform them we could have come out of this without having to resort to violence,” the woman replied.  
Vivi blinked at the two bickering statues before having to duck under another giant fist aimed at her.   
“Um, excuse me for interrupting but did you say you were responsible for this?” she asked pointing to the mud monster.  
The woman statue looked down a bit embarrassed. “Well yes, the river golem is meant to protect the river from being crossed by those unworthy. The knights tried to cross our bridge without our consent though I believe they didn’t know they needed it I’m sure. I do apologize that you got mixed into this, you did nothing wrong.”  
“Nothing wrong?! Helping criminals is as bad as being one,” the man statue argued.  
The woman sighed, “I’m sorry about him, he’s rather harsh when it comes to our laws.”  
“I can see that,” Vivi huffed, shooting the golem with another blast that still appeared to do nothing, “Any chance you can stop this thing so we can try and make things right?”  
The woman gave a sad sigh, “Unfortunately I can’t. The golem is out of our control once it’s summoned, it’ll only go back to the river once the enemy is defeated or it is.”  
Vivi slid a hand down her face. “Of course, it can’t be easy can it?”  
“I can give you some advice though. You had the right idea when you were first thinking on how to cross the river,” the woman statue hinted.  
“Don’t tell her that? You’re consorting with a convict,” the man snapped.  
“Oh hush,” the woman scolded again, “I’m just trying to fix the mess you made by overreacting.”  
“Enforcing our laws is not overreacting,” the man shot back and the two dissolved into more arguing.  
Vivi sighed seeing she wasn’t going to get anything more from either of them, now if only she knew what the woman meant by her having the right idea when trying to cross the river. It obviously wasn’t Mystery being a bird since that didn’t seem to help them at all. Her eyes suddenly went wide with realization and she quickly started to run strait for the monster.  
Ignoring the shouts from both the soldiers and Mystery she got right up next to the golem and slammed her hands onto its leg. For a moment it looked like nothing happened, but slowly ice started to spread from her hands and over the beast’s body. The ice climbed up the golem’s leg and started to cover the rest of it. The ice had just reached the creature’s left arms when its right one came down and slapped her away. Vivi went tumbling back and was unable to catch herself as she fell over the bank an into the river.  
“Vivi!” Mystery shouted and dove to the water but it was too swift and the young mage was carried away.  
Luckily for the soldiers the ice spell hadn’t stopped when Vivi was swatted away and the golem was now frozen solid, but Vivi was unable to be seen.  
The soldiers tried to follow Mystery down the river but both the water and the large bird were too fast and they were left far behind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know it took forever to get this chapter out. Sorry, between a snorkeling trip and getting ready to go leave Australia I've been pretty busy. Hopefully things will pick up once I'm back in the US.  
> Also warning there is nudity in this but it's not mentioned much. Vivi just didn't want to get hypothermia.

As days went by Lewis started to visit Arthur for more than just meal times always bringing a book or game for him. His visits also became longer as he often would play the games with him or talk about the book he was on. It wasn’t uncommon now for the goblin to spend most of the day in the tower now and as Lewis spent more time with Arthur the more relaxed they both became around each other.   
One morning Lewis had found Arthur curled up and crying after a nightmare and without thinking he pulled him into a hug. Arthur had initially tensed at the contact but quickly relaxed in the hold and accepted the comfort. They had stayed like that for an hour before Arthur’s stomach rumbled and they were forced to stop so he could eat.  
Arthur never told Lewis what the nightmare was about but he didn’t mind. He would respect Arthur’s boundaries even if they didn’t change. He was happy with the progress they had made.  
Currently Lewis was in the castle’s kitchen making lunch for Arthur. Lewis had always had a passion for cooking and had a great talent for it. However, it wasn’t until he found Arthur did he realize the joy cooking for someone else brought to him.  
As he worked he began to hum a small toon to himself, which meant he didn’t hear as someone else entered the kitchen.  
“Hey Lewlew, what ya doing?” a peppy voice asked from behind him.  
Lewis instantly stopped what he was doing to whorl around to see the younger female goblin behind him. He had to hold back a sigh at recognizing the other before turning back to his cooking.  
“Chloe I told you to stop calling me that, we’re not kids anymore,” Lewis told the younger goblin.  
Chloe pouted, “But it’s such a cute nick name Lewlew.”  
Lewis shook his head and chuckled, Chloe really never would change. “Well is there a reason you’re hear? You normally don’t come into the kitchen unless you need something,” Lewis said, changing the subject.  
“Actually I was looking for you, and speaking of people doing things they don’t normally do, what’s with you spending so much time up in the east tower?” Chloe asked.  
Lewis nearly dropped the knife he’d been using at hearing the question but quickly went back to cutting the vegetables to hide it. “What do you mean?” he asked back.  
“I mean you’re not one to stay inside like that all the time. Normally you’re outside flying around and exploring the thorn forest,” Chloe answered.  
Lewis was gripping the knife so tight it creaked in protest. “Well I’m allowed to decide to do something else with my time aren’t I? It’s really nothing strange I just decided I’d like to go up there and read more than just exploring the same place I’ve been for years,” he lied, not allowing Chloe to see his face. He knew if she made eye contact she would know instantly he wasn’t telling the truth.  
Still even without him facing her Chloe wasn’t convinced. “So you’re just up there reading, hm?” she repeated, “And I’m sure the full meals you’ve been bringing up there just after eating yourself is just because you have suddenly much larger apatite?”  
Lewis bristled at her words. Why did she have to be so observant when it came to him? The girl could be as oblivious as a rock except when it was about him. He was about to think of an answer when she started talking again, “I’d almost think you were trying to hide a pet up there or something.”  
Lewis had to put the knife down to prevent from breaking it this time. It was all he could do not to shout that Arthur wasn’t a pet. Instead he remained with his back facing her as he scrapped the chopped vegetables into a bowl. Focusing on his cooking was always something that helped calm him down.   
“Really Chloe, why do you even care? I’m not doing anything wrong or trying to hide anything, I just changed my normal activities around a bit. I’m not sure what you want me to say?” Lewis replied as he picked up the bowl, “Now if you excuse me I have somewhere I need to be.”  
He then darted out of the kitchen before Chloe could question him farther.   
-  
Mystery flew after Vivi as fast as he could, but every time he dove down to grab her, the water would pull her under again and out of reach. It wasn’t long before he realized that trying to catch her as a bird wasn’t going to work. Acting quickly he dove down into the water changing form quickly. Wings became fins as feathers became scales and soon he was a large fish darting down the river. Using the river’s current to his advantage he was able to catch up to her with little effort.  
Maneuvering himself underneath he was able to get her close enough to the bank and pull her out once transforming back to his original form. Dripping wet he looked to Vivi as she gasps for air and coughs up lungfuls of water.   
After she was able to breathe again, Vivi got to her feet, shivering like a leaf, and looked up at Mystery. “Th…thanks, I d…doing th..think I…I…” she stuttered.  
Mystery silenced her by wrapping his tails around her. “You’re soaked, you need to change or you’re going to get sick,” he informed.  
Vivi wouldn’t have argued if she didn’t have a point to make, “I w…would b…but all my sp…spare cloths are in the p…pack which i…is also s…soaking w…wet.”   
Mystery sighed. Well that was a draw back. “Still you need to get out of those clothes. They’re only going to keep you cold now,” Mystery told her.  
If Vivi wasn’t freezing at the moment her face would have gone red hot at what Mystery had just told her to do. Though even without the blush it was clear what Vivi was feeling by the expression on her face.  
Mystery just rolled his eyes at that and smirked. “Seriously Vivi there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I may be able to talk and change forms but I’m still a fox. Me seeing you without clothes is no different than you seeing me without clothes, as I am now,” he explained.  
Vivi pouted but gave in and pulled her shirt off. She then threw it at Mystery before taking off the rest. She was still shivering but at least she was getting dry now.  
“I’ll make a fire to help get you warm. In the meantime unpack the bag and lay out all your clothes so they’ll dry faster. It’ll also keep you active and warm you up,” he said before going off to get some wood for the fire.  
Vivi huffed but did as the giant fox said. Getting out her clothes did help keep her warmer and by the time she got everything out of the bag she was shivering more from not having anything warm on rather than being wet. Thankfully Mystery igniting the sticks he found quickly cured that.  
After she curled up next to the fire Vivi looked back up the river. “Mystery?” she asked.  
“Hmm?” Mystery replied.  
“How long will it take us to get to the goblin realm now?” she continued.  
Mystery’s ears drooped. “I had to exert a lot of energy shifting to all those forms while fighting then chasing after you,” he started before sighing and resting his head on his paws, “I won’t be able to run very fast for a while, so it’ll take us a few days to get back on track added on to the time it normally would have taken us to get there. So possibly another two weeks.”  
“Oh…” Vivi said, staring into the fire, “I see.”  
“Vivi?” Mystery asked concerned.  
“It just, Arthur’s smart and resourceful and can hide pretty well. I’m sure he’d be fine for a few days, but 3 weeks?” Vivi’s voice hitched, “Not even he can hide for that long.”  
Mystery went over to her and wrapped his tails around the woman. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him and if he needs rescuing then that’s what we’ll do,” he assured her.  
Vivi rested her head against him and sighed. “I know, I’m just scared of what we’ll find,” she admitted.   
“I know, but things will turn out ok,” Mystery promised.  
Vivi made a tired noise of confirmation before drifting off to sleep. Mystery looked back up the river and sighed, he wished he was able to convince himself as much as He did Vivi.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok sorry if these last chapters haven't been too exciting next chapter more stuff will happen I promise.

Lewis flew into the room with the food he’d just made along with a new bag of clothes. As much as he thought Arthur in his large clothes was cute he thought he’d surprise him with something that would fit a bit better. He set the bag down and handed the food to Arthur who, like always, ate it happily.   
After he was done Lewis gave him the bag and Arthur opened it to see what was inside. What he pulled out first were his old outfit he’d been wearing when he was sent to the goblin realm only now they had been cleaned and in much better condition. When he pulled the cape out Arthur paused and looked at the corner. He’d known that Lewis had ripped a peace off to make the gag the first night he was there and he’d expected that it would stay like that, but as he ran his fingers over the place it had been torn he couldn’t even feel the seam. Setting down the cape he smiled up at Lewis and mouthed the words ‘thank you’.  
Lewis smiled and rested a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “Hey it’s no problem I was the one who tore it to begin with,” he pointed out.  
Arthur placed down the cape and picked up his note book. ‘Still you didn’t have to,’ he replied.  
Lewis laughed, “No but I wanted to, now are you going to sit there staring at that cape all day or are you going to see if you like the rest of the clothes I got you?”  
Arthur smiled back before digging through the bag again. Besides the wedding outfit there were also several shirts and pants all different shades of orange or white and there was even a new pair of orange boots. The shirts still had holes in the back for wings but Arthur didn’t mind. He knew it would probably raise some suspicion if he asked for shirts that didn’t have them.  
That didn’t stop Lewis from apologizing though and Arthur had to cover his mouth with his hand to get him to stop. Lewis felt his cheeks heat up at that and Arthur quickly pulled his hand away after realizing what he’d done, blushing wildly. He quickly buried his face in his hands, refusing to look at the other.  
Lewis had to hold back a chuckle at seeing Arthur so red. He looked so cute when he was embarrassed. Although, he would like it if he could see Arthur’s face again. “Hey, it’s ok kinda hard to get a guy to shut up when you can’t talk yourself,” he reassured, slowly pulled Arthur’s hands away from his face.   
Arthur’s face was still very red but at least he wasn’t looked away from Lewis now. “Now how about you try on some of your new clothes?” Lewis suggested, “I want to see how you like them.”  
Arthur nodded and looked down at the pile of close in front of him and nodded. He was helped into the bathroom again though this time he was able to do some of it himself now that his ankle wasn’t as bad. Once settled and Lewis had left he changed out of the far too big cloths he’d been wearing and into a simple white shirt and orange trousers. After he put on the boots he found an orange vest with several pockets on the inside. Once he was fully dressed he limped over to the door and opened.  
Lewis looked up when he heard the door being opened and had to do a double take. Wow Arthur looked really nice in those close. Sure the fancy outfit he’d shown up in was nice on him but there was always a slight feeling of discomfort coming from the elf when he wore them. In more casual cloths he seemed more relaxed and now in ones that fit he could see the difference. It wasn’t until Arthur waved a hand in front of him that he realized he was staring.  
“Oh uh… sorry, you look um… I mean do you like them?” Lewis swore that if his face was any hotter it would burst into flame, and considering he could shoot fire from his hands it was almost a valid fear.  
Arthur nodded a small smile tugging at his lips at seeing the goblin’s embarrassment.  
“Well… l should get going,” Lewis blurted, “There’s another goblin getting suspicious about how much time I spend up here and I don’t want her to find out about you.”  
Arthur’s smile fell into a worried frown and he nodded in understanding. Lewis gave a wave before quickly flying out the window and out of sight.  
A moment later he landed in the courtyard and sighed. What was he doing? He couldn’t get a crush on Arthur he had Vivi back in the elf kingdom. He was just protecting him until they could find a way to get him home. Giving another sigh he made his way back inside.  
-  
Mystery was right about it taking several days to get back on track. Thankfully nothing seemed to pop up and get in their way.   
Eventualy they had made it back to the place they had been before they had to save the knights from the golem. Thankfully this time they were on the other side of the river so they didn’t have to worry about that again. They turned and continued their way along the path for a while before Mystery suddenly stopped. Vivi stopped next to him and gave him a questioning look.  
“What’s going on?” She gave a groan, “Please tell me we’re not in danger again.”  
“No it’s not that, I just hear something… weird,” Mystery answered.  
“Weird? What do you mean weird?” Vivi asked.  
“I hear music,” he replied.  
Vivi gave a confused look as she looked in the same direction as Mystery. “Music in the middle of the forest?” she questioned.  
“Exactly,” Mystery said, “Come on, we should be careful now. We have no idea who or what is making that music.”  
Vivi nodded and stayed quite as she followed Mystery. If it hadn’t been for the several other dangers they faced she wouldn’t have taken him as seriously as she was now, but they’d already been delayed so much from unwanted attacks she wasn’t going to risk they being detoured even more. Not when the idea of what could be happening to Arthur was flashing threw her mind constantly.  
As they moved forward the music became louder and they stayed low in the brush. Mystery would have shifted to something smaller but if whatever was making the music was dangerous he wanted to be in a form that could defend them.  
Eventually they came to a clearing where they could see where the music was coming from. In the center of the clearing was a man with long pink hair, black formal looking clothes and a scar across his eye. Next to him was a shorter man also dressed in formal clothes with pointed ears and teeth and red hair. The music was coming from several ghost-like beings the taller man seemed to control.   
The music was catchy but hunting at the same time and almost had a hypnotic element to it. Both Vivi and Mystery felt themselves be drawn by the sound and they didn’t even notice when they came closer. However, just as they left the safety of the brush the man controlling the spirits turned and locked his eyes onto Mystery.  
Instantly the music stopped and all the ghosts looked to Mystery as well. Mystery took a step back keeping a protective stance in front of Vivi. Vivi on the other hand kept her eyes locked on the scene in front of her ready to act if she needed to.  
Suddenly the spirits let out a powerful note that knocked Mystery back and sent Vivi falling to the ground. Without hesitation Mystery grabbed Vivi and threw her on his back before breaking out into a sprint. There was no way he was risking fighting something that strong. Unfortunately, even at his near top speed he wasn’t able to get away as more of the apparitions appeared in front of them, cutting off their path. He turned only to be cut off again by more ghosts. It wasn’t long until they were surrounded. Mystery let out a low growl as Vivi’s hands began to glow. If they needed to fight they would fight.  
Just then the two men came out of the trees and glared up at them. Mystery hunched low, eyes flashing dangerously as they approached. However, the numerous spirits kept him at bay.  
“A beast this far East? How did the wood witch’s power grow so fast?” the shorter man asked.  
“I don’t know, but it’s not going any farther,” the taller one stated as he raised his hands.  
Mystery tensed but something the men said made Vivi frown. “Wait!” she shouted, and the two men looked surprised up at her as if they just noticed she was there.  
Vivi looked back down at them as the magic dissipated from her hands. “Did you say the wood witch?” she asked.  
Both men nodded. “Yes the one named Shiro, who lives in the forest to the west in a grove of black bleeding trees. She has made many dark beasts like the one you are riding on to spread her reach,” the taller man replied, “Luca and I barely survived her last attack on this part of the forest.”  
“Well I can assure you that Mystery is not one of her beasts. We just fought her not that long ago, in fact he saved me from her,” Vivi told them.  
“So you are enemies of the witch then? My deepest apologies for the misunderstanding. I am Maestro Leopold and this is Luca,” the man replied.  
“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Vivi and this is Mystery. Sorry we can’t stay to talk, we’re on our way to the goblin realm. A demon used a teleportation spell to send my future husband there and we are on our way to save him,” Vivi explained.  
“It is alright we completely understand, but if you are going to the goblin realm then you will need a guide. It is impossible for any elf to pass into the goblin realm without one. Look for a gremlin they are flightless pixies who pass between the goblin realm and ours constantly if you can convince one to show you the way you will find your fiancée in no time,” Leopold said.  
“Thank you very much,” Vivi thanked and motioned Mystery to start heading off again.  
“Oh and before you leave be warned Shiro is said to have many servants and allies that reside in the goblin realm,” Leopold called.  
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Mystery called back as he started to run. Soon they could no longer see the two men or their crowd of ghosts any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leopold and Luca belong to yuramec  
> http://yuramec.tumblr.com/


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I got this one out fast. Hope you have just as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Sorry no Vivi and Mystery in this chapter if I put them in it would have been over 10 pages long. So maybe next chapter.
> 
> *Gruncle Stan voice* This chapter will not give you feels. I repeat this chapter will not give you feels.
> 
> *giggle*

A few days later Lewis was making lunch for Arthur again.  
“Hey Lewlew,” Chloe’s voice suddenly rang through the kitchen.  
Lewis smiled back at her once again trying to hold back his annoyance at being interrupted. He’d been thinking about Arthur and for once he hadn’t let his fears or notions of it being wrong to ruin it. “Hi Chloe what’s up?”  
“Oh nothing, just wondering who you’re thinking about,” she giggled.  
Lewis’ face suddenly went red at that. “Wh…what are you talking about?” he stuttered.  
“Oh I think you know what I’m talking about. You’ve had that face all morning. So who is it?” she asked. Her eyes then went wide, “Is that why you’ve been sneaking off to the tower so much? You’ve been secretly meeting them haven’t you?”  
“What? Chloe! No I…” Lewis stammered, face now beat red.  
“Uh huh, sure. You can’t hide it forever,” Chloe grinned.  
Lewis sighed once Chloe got an idea in her head there was no way to get it out. The only way to get her to stop thinking about it was to divert the topic. “So what about you? Are you ever going to tell me about this mystery friend that’s been visiting you for the past month?” Lewis asked.  
Chloe crossed her arms and continued grinning. “Sorry Lew but you’re not getting any information that easily,” she stated.  
Lewis made a pout but was secretly glad he’d been able to get her mind off what he was doing so easily. “Aw are you at least going to tell me if you’ve talked to him recently?” he whined.  
“Actually he visited me last night,” she said slyly before her smile fell, “Oh Lewis I have something important to tell you. He said he was talking to the gremlins the other day and there’s a whole army of elves heading towards the border. They seem ready for war and are even more powerful than in the stories. One singlehandedly defeated a golem by freezing it solid and shattering it with one strike.”  
“What?” Lewis questioned, old fears beginning to surface again. That couldn’t be right. Arthur had shown him that elves didn’t have that kind of power. Right? No he wasn’t going to take some over exaggerated story from a guy he didn’t know over someone he knew personally.  
“Yeah and he said that they ride on the backs of monsters that can change form and breathe fire,” Chloe continued.  
“Chloe,” Lewis interrupted.  
“Yeah?” she asked.  
Lewis took a breath, he didn’t like what he was about to say but he needed to get away and talk to Arthur about this. “Look if you really think an army of elves is on its way here then this is something you should talk to the council about.”  
Chloe blinked before her eyes went wide in realization and nodded. “Oh my goodness you’re right, I got to tell the council right away!” she exclaimed before running out of the kitchen.  
Lewis sighed, he didn’t like sending Chloe off like that, knowing her story would never be taken seriously by the council but it had to be done. Quickly finishing the meal Lewis gathered them up on the plate and flew off towards the East tower.  
-  
After giving Arthur his breakfast and letting him finish eating Lewis told him about what Chloe had told him.  
‘An army?’ Arthur repeated in his notebook.  
“Yes, do you have any idea why one would be coming here?” Lewis asked.  
Arthur bit his lip before cautiously writing, ‘I can think of one. They’re coming to get me.’  
“You? Why?” not that Lewis would disagree to have an army come find Arthur if he was sent to a potentially hostile land by a demon but he doubted that one would be sent if he was just a normal citizen. Exactly how important was Arthur?  
Arthur hesitated he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to answer that. He wasn’t sure how other than the truth. Still he needed to write something. ‘My uncle sent them, he’s the king,’ he wrote and waited for Lewis’ reaction.  
Lewis stared at the page for a long moment before looking back up at Arthur. “Your uncle’s the king, but that means…” he let his sentence trail off.  
Arthur nodded. ‘The prince,’ he finished.  
Lewis took a step back, eyes never leaving Arthur. The idea that Arthur was any kind of nobility let alone a prince was never something he would have guessed and the way the elf was curled in on himself only made it harder to believe. Still he knew Arthur had no reason to lie about this. “So there really could be an army coming?” he asked hesitantly.  
Arthur frowned and slowly shook his head. ‘No that doesn’t seem like my uncle, he wouldn’t want to start a war if he could help it. He may be pretty blunt about a lot of things but he can be very tactful in a situation like this. If anything he would probably send a small group of elite soldiers to infiltrate the castle and save me, nowhere near a whole army,’ Arthur explained.  
Lewis nodded. “Yeah I thought it would be something like that, Chloe’s stories tend to be rather exaggerated,” he admitted, still he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable fear rising in his stomach. In an attempt to lighten the mood he joked, “So I guess that means they can’t shatter golems with a single strike and don’t ride on shapeshifting monsters that breathe fire.”  
Arthur couldn’t hold back his laughter at that and it rang through the room. The idea alone was outrageous, the thought that someone actually believed it was hilarious.  
At hearing the laughter, however, Lewis froze and his eyes went wide. Suddenly the small seed of fear he’d been trying to suppress exploded into near panic. The only thing that stopped him bolting was the small part of his mind that still told him Arthur would never hurt him.  
Arthur frowned at seeing Lewis looking at him like that. It was then that he realized what he’d done and placed a hand to his throat.  
“I can…” he tried but was cut off by a loud roar from the other.  
“NO!” Lewis shouted, scrambling back to the other side of the room.  
“Lew…?” Arthur tried to ask but was interrupted again by the goblin.  
“I said no! Don’t you dare say it! Don’t say anything!” Lewis yelled, all rational thought was now consumed by utter fear of the other. He stared at Arthur with a look near to horror before running to the window and flying out, not even halting to close the shutters behind him.  
Lewis didn’t stop flying until he got to the thorn forest and landed on one of the thick vines, careful not to cut himself on a thorn as he did. He gave a shaky sigh as he wrapped his wings around himself. He found he was shaking but he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or fear. The anger wasn’t at Arthur though; he couldn’t be mad at the elf when he hadn’t done anything. It was clear he’d been just as shocked at being able to talk again as Lewis was. No he was mad at himself.  
How could he be so careless? He knew the muteness would wear off eventually and he’d lost track of how many days it had been since Arthur last had a pill. He shouldn’t have been caught off guard like that. He should have been prepared. If he knew that Arthur would get his voice back he could have been prepared and not freak out the way he had.  
He knew Arthur would never hurt him but he still acted like he would. How could he still let stupid prejudices rule him like that? How could he let unfounded fears overrule his care… no his love for Arthur? Though how could he really say he loved him if he turned on him so quickly?  
He curled his wings around him as tears flowed down his cheeks. What had he done?  
Lewis wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there crying but it was apparently long enough to catch the attention of a small group of fairies flying past. The three small beings quickly went over to him.  
The smallest one dressed in white went closer trying to get his attention. “Um… hello?” she said.  
Lewis stopped crying at the sound of the tiny voice and looked down at the fairies in front of him. “Oh uh… hi,” he tried, a few tears still making their way down his cheeks.  
“Why are you crying?” the one dressed in pink asked.  
Lewis looked away, trying to wipe the remaining tears away. “Oh um…” he sighed, letting his wings sag, “because I did something stupid and probably hurt someone I really care about.”  
The fairies frowned and placed their tiny hands on his massive claw. The largest one in purple then tilted her head in confusion. “Did it have something to do with the panic spell on you?” she questioned.  
“Panic spell?” Lewis echoed.  
“Yes, it’s pretty weak though. You probably aren’t around what the spell made you panic over and there’s nothing else to fuel it but it was activated very recently,” she explained.  
Lewis blinked. “Then that means I wasn’t really scared of Arthur, it was just a spell. I have to go tell him I didn’t mean any of it,” he exclaimed, but as soon as the idea of returning to Arthur entered his mind he cowered back again.  
The fairies seemed to sense this as they hovered closer to him. “You must really care for him if you’re trying to fight the spell this hard,” the pink fairy commented  
Lewis nodded, “Yes, I care for him far more than I ever thought I could.”  
The fairies all gave sad frowns at this and started speaking quietly amongst themselves. Finally they stopped and turned to Lewis again.  
“We could help break the spell for you,” the one in white offered.  
Lewis gave a small smile and nodded. “Thank you,” he said.  
The fairies placed their hands on him again and he felt the lingering fear melt away and he relaxed. After thanking the fairies he flew off.  
None of them noticed the green eyes watching them from the shadows.  
-  
Lewis flew back to the tower as fast as he could but as he got closer he paused. He knew Arthur would be scared if he just flew in like he normally did so he landed on the window ledge and looked inside. What he saw broke his heart.  
In the far corner on the bed was Arthur curled up and crying. A new gag, clearly from the just recently mended cape, was tied so tightly around his mouth that it looked painful. He was facing away from the window but when Lewis’ frame blocked the light he flinched showing he knew he was there.  
Lewis’ wings sagged at this and cautiously took a step into the room. Arthur made no move to look at him and only continued to cry. Lewis’ felt his own tears start to well up at that and he took another step forward. He was then distracted by feeling something under his foot. Looking down he saw it was the notebook Arthur had been using to talk to him when he was mute. Reaching down to pick it up the notebook opened to a page with one of Arthur’s drawings on it. Looking down he saw that it was a drawing of him but not the one he’d seen. It was the one depicting him as a terrifying beast and he let out an involuntary gasp.  
Arthur peaked out over his shoulder at hearing the gasp and looked to Lewis fearfully. Lewis felt his heart break again at the sight and slowly turned the notebook around so Arthur could see the picture.  
“Is... this what you think of me?” Lewis asked, fearing the answer.  
Arthur looked at the picture and his eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. His hands twitched as if he was reaching for his notebook only to remember Lewis was holding it.  
Lewis quickly went over to him, but instead of handing him the notebook he set it down and reached for the gag Arthur had put on himself. After Lewis removed it Arthur looked to him in confusion. He then reached for the notebook but Lewis caught his hand. Arthur then found himself being pulled into a hug as the goblin’s wings wrapped around them.  
“I’m so sorry Arthur; I didn’t mean any of it. I was under a spell and it made me too scared to think right. Pleas never think that anything you do will make me act like that,” Lewis told him.  
Arthur stayed silent for a long while just letting Lewis hold him. Hesitantly he looked up at the goblin and spoke his first full sentence in over two weeks.  
“So it wasn’t me talking that scared you?” he asked quietly.  
A small chuckle escaped Lewis and Arthur couldn’t help but feel delighted by the sound. “No, in fact I was kind of looking forward to when the muteness would wear off. Even if I still believed you could control me with your voice I know you wouldn’t do something like that,” Lewis answered.  
Arthur smiled. “Good, the last thing I’d want to do was scare you,” he said.  
Lewis rested his head on Arthur’s, just loving how close they were now. “Same here,” he replied.  
His eyes then wandered back to the notebook that was still on the page with the scary drawing of him on it. Arthur looked down at were Lewis was looking and winced.  
“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he said just above a whisper.  
Lewis nodded and looked away. “I’m sorry if I seemed like that to you,” he apologized.  
Arthur quickly shook his head again. “No! ... Well maybe at first but that was when we didn’t know each other and only had the stories we were told. I know you’re not like that,” Arthur hurriedly explained, “I didn’t even mean to draw that. I’ve been kind of having bad dreams and sometimes I just draw what’s on my mind. I…” He stopped and buried his face in Lewis’ chest. He just felt like he was digging a deeper hole for himself.  
“Hey its ok, I understand. I probably didn’t help the nightmares very much,” Lewis reassured. He frowned as the reality sank in. Of course he knew Arthur was having nightmares and he should have known many of them would be about him. To anyone who didn’t understand the context it would look like he was keeping Arthur captive even if that was the farthest thing from the truth.  
Lewis knew it was the luckiest thing for him to have let his curiosity overpower his common sense that night. If he hadn’t he would have handed him over to the council and he really would be in a cell right now. The thought made him pull Arthur closer.  
Arthur gripped Lewis’ shirt tightly feeling the other’s distress. “No, that’s not it at all. Having you around actually kind of helped make them better. I knew I didn’t need to be afraid of you anymore,” he comforted.  
Now it was Lewis’ turn to be confused. “Really?” he asked.  
“Really,” Arthur answered, “You make me feel safe now.”  
Warmth formed in Lewis’ chest and spread up to his cheeks at that and he smiled. “Well then maybe I’ll come and sleep here tonight. That way you won’t have any nightmares,” Lewis offered.  
Arthur smiled back. “I’d like that,” he said, but his smile then turned into a worried frown, “but won’t that cause some suspicion? You said another goblin was already starting to notice how much time you spend up here.”  
Lewis tensed, oh right he’d forgotten about Chloe. “Well then I’ll just have to make sure no one sees me come up here,” he replied.  
Arthur relaxed a bit a nodded. He was still a bit concerned about Lewis getting caught but at the same time the idea of having Lewis with him that night was too tempting.  
“Alright then it’s settled. Unfortunately, that means I should probably get going if I don’t want anyone to notice how long I’ve been gone,” Lewis sighed.  
Arthur gave a frown at this but nodded. He didn’t want Lewis to go just yet but knew it was better he did. Once Lewis got up and unwrapped his arms and wings from around him Arthur felt rather cold. He said a small goodbye as Lewis left and wrapped his blanket around him. Waiting for Lewis to come back would be much harder than it ever had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gave you feels didn't it. Oopsy.
> 
> I hope the panic spell doesn't feel like a cop out. I just felt that Lewis' reaction would be too out of character if he wasn't under another influence. Don't worry where the spell came from will be explained later.


	12. Chapter 12

The demon growled in its cave. The plan had been perfect and now it was all crashing down because of one overly caring goblin. Not only had he been keeping the elf hidden but he also somehow interrupted the panic spell. Another roar tore through the caverns.  
It then jumped down from the wall and glared out of its cave to the castle far in the distance. Well then fine. If this wannabe peace keeper was going to interfere then he was in for more than he bargained for.  
The demon’s form began to change. It solidified and took on a more humanoid shape. Its skin paled until it was no longer a sickly green, and strong wings sprouted from its back. “Time for another visit to my little friend.”  
-  
“We’ve been walking for days,” Vivi complained, “You said you knew where the gremlins were why don’t we just go there already?”  
Mystery had to force down a smirk, knowing full well the reason for her impatiens which was nothing to mock. “You know of pixies right?” he retorted.  
“Yeah, so?” Vivi asked.  
“Leopold said gremlins are like pixies and how hard is it to find a pixie when you’re looking for one?” he replied.  
Vivi sighed, “I see your point.”  
She flopped down on Mystery’s back closing her eyes. They then suddenly snapped open and she sat up abruptly.  
“Vivi?” Mystery asked.  
“Shh! Do you here that?” she shushed.  
Mystery paused and tried to find what she was talking about. It was then he heard it. Laughter, but not the cheerful kind, it was mocking and there was also… crying?  
A dark anger bloomed in Mystery’s stomach and he growled low. It only took one look at Vivi’s determined face for him to start running in the direction of the sounds.  
It didn’t take them long to find where the laughing and crying was coming from. It was on a low, leafless branch of a large tree. Flying around it was a group of pixies which was where the laughing was coming from. In the middle of them was another small creature that didn’t have wings. He looked as if he was about to fall when a pixie caught him only to push him too far in the other direction. The other pixies did the same as the poor creature was shoved around. The fall was not high but for someone so small it would hurt a lot if one of the pixies missed.   
“What’s the matter gremlin? Can’t you keep your balance?” one of the pixies mocked and that was the last straw for Mystery  
Without warning he ran forward growling at the pixies. The tiny beings screamed and flew off, leaving the gremlin behind. The gremlin clung to the branch as he fearfully looked up at the giant fox. Mystery frowned and gave the small creature a gentle nudge. The gremlin gave a fearful whale at that and clutched the branch tighter.  
Sliding off Mystery’s back, Vivi went over to the branch and bent over to be eyelevel with the gremlin. “Hey it’s ok we’re not going to hurt you,” she promised.  
The gremlin peered up at her, still trembling. “You…you’re not?” he asked.  
Vivi smiled, “No we just wanted to see if you were ok. Those pixies were pretty mean to you.”  
The gremlin looked away and frowned. “It wasn’t that bad, people make fun of me all the time,” he replied.  
“What? Why?” Vivi asked concerned.  
The gremlin looked down at his legs. “My legs don’t work right. I can’t run and I sometimes walk wrong,” he answered, closing his eyes against the tears.  
“That’s horrible,” Vivi gasped.  
The gremlin looked up to Vivi with confusion. “You’re not laughing?” he asked.  
“Of course not, why would anyone laugh at that?” Mystery asked. Coming into the conversation seemed to be the wrong thing to do as the gremlin gasped in fright and lost his grip on the branch. If it wasn’t for Mystery’s lightning fast reflexes the poor fae would have hit the ground harshly. The small creature was quickly caught by one of Mystery’s tails which slowly brought him back up to eye level with Vivi.  
Unfortunately, the gremlin didn’t seem to be interested in talking anymore and just stared wide eyed up at the giant fox.   
“Hey, it’s ok. Mystery won’t hurt you,” Vivi soothed, holding a hand out to the gremlin. The gremlin quickly latched onto Vivi, burying his head in her hand. Vivi hushed and cradled him close as she waited for him to calm down. “So what’s your name?” she asked.  
The gremlin peaked up at Vivi and in a small voice answered, “Galahad.”  
Vivi smiled, “It’s nice to meet you Galahad. I’m Vivi and this is Mystery.”  
Galahad looked up at Mystery, still rather wary. Mystery gave a friendly smile. “Don’t worry I don’t eat things that talk,” he joked.   
This seemed to calm Galahad a bit, though he still was a bit nervous. “It’s uh nice to meet you too,” he said, “and um thanks for saving me from those pixies.”  
“No problem, we couldn’t let those bullies keep picking on you,” Vivi replied.   
Galahad nodded. He then gave a worried look in the direction the pixies fled. “Um if it’s ok may I stay with you? I’m scared they’ll come back when you leave,” he asked.  
Both Vivi and Mystery smiled. “Of course not, actually we were going to ask you the same thing. You see we’re going to the goblin realm to save my fiancée who’s trapped there but we need a gremlin guide to lead us there. Would you be willing to help us?” Vivi answered.  
“The goblin realm?” Galahad repeated perking up, “Oh yes I know how to get there. Of course I’ll show you the way.”  
“Great!” Vivi cheered, “You’re going to have to ride on Mystery with me, is that ok?”  
Galahad looked over the fox still a bit hesitant but eventually nodded. “Yeah I think that’ll be ok. You said he won’t hurt me so I trust him,” he concluded.  
Vivi nodded and Mystery helped them both onto his back. Galahad tensed but as soon as they were seated he relaxed into the soft fur. It seemed he could live with this arrangement.  
With a call from the gremlin on the direction to go Mystery took off once more.  
-  
Arthur hated waiting. Waiting meant boredom and boredom meant thinking. In an attempt to not think about Lewis’ fearful reaction to him talking he focused on what they had been talking about before, the ‘army’ that was heading toward the goblin realm. Lewis had said that it was impossible for anyone, elf or goblin, to cross the border between their lands though he had no idea what made it so impossible. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to get hurt or worse because of him.   
Though as he thought about this a new thought entered his mind. How much did he really want to go home now? Yes his heart still ached desperately for Vivi and he missed his uncle very much, but as he lay there waiting he found he had a new ache in his heart, an ache that called for Lewis.  
Arthur curled up on the bed trying to block out the confusing thoughts and emotions. He knew he couldn’t stay here. Sooner or later someone other than Lewis was going to find out that he was here and he didn’t want to know what would happen after that. However, the idea of having to leave Lewis behind was impossible.   
Thankfully Lewis arrived through the window before he could think too much about this. The goblin had a blanket and pillow under his arm and he smiled down at Arthur. Arthur smiled back.  
“Hey, sorry I’m here so late. Needed to make sure no one would see me come up here,” Lewis explained.  
Arthur nodded before remembering he had a voice to respond with and replied, “Don’t worry I understand.”  
Lewis smiles and comes over to the bed. “Heh still have to get used to you being able to talk. Though I have to say it’s nicer than having to communicate through a notebook. I like hearing your voice,” Lewis then realized what he said and his face suddenly went very red. “That is… I mean… it’s nice not having to read all your responses and… um…”  
He stops when he hears Arthur laughing. It’s one of the most beautiful sounds he’s heard, which only make his blush darker.  
“Hey, it’s ok I get it,” Arthur reassured, a light blush dusting his own cheeks. He then yawned and rubbed his eye.  
Lewis nodded and smiled softly. Arthur looked really cute when he was sleepy. “Well it’s still late we should get some sleep,” he stated.  
Arthur nodded and went to lie down on the bed. He then frowned as he looked to what Lewis was doing. The goblin had laid the pillow and blanket down on the floor and curled up on them. That didn’t look at all comfortable and Arthur’s frown deepened.  
“What are you doing?” he asked and Lewis looked up at him.  
“What do you mean?” Lewis answered.  
“I mean that doesn’t look comfortable at all. Come on,” he scooted back so there was more room on the bed, “There’s plenty of room up here.”  
Lewis looked at the bed then back at Arthur. “Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Lewis asked.  
“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure, now get up here,” Arthur said.  
Lewis nervously got up and slid into the bed next to Arthur. Having the elf so close was both exhilarating and terrifying. He wanted nothing more than to pull the smaller male closer and hold him near as they slept but he was terrified of scaring Arthur away if he did that. Thankfully Arthur seemed to make that choice for him. The elf was so tired that having Lewis’ warm body next to him had made him fall asleep instantly and now he was seeking that warmth in his sleep. Arthur pressed himself against Lewis and snuggled into his chest, a small smile on his lips.  
Lewis relaxed and wrapped both his arms and wings around the elf, holding him close. It was the best night sleep he’d ever had.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short and the endings a bit awkward but there's Lewtur fluff and Galy acting like himself so hopefully that'll help.

“Wait you really think there are flesh-eating plants in the goblin realm?” Galahad laughed.  
“You mean there aren’t?” Vivi asked.  
“Of course not, do you think something as small as me would go there if there were?” Galahad answered, still laughing.  
It had taken some time for him to let his guard down around them, but now it was clear the timid little creature they’d saved from the pixies was not at all the kind of person Galahad really was. He was very energetic and talkative, not to mention a bit of a trickster. Vivi couldn’t count the number of times she had to stop him from swinging on Mystery’s tails, annoyingly staring at one of Mystery’s eyes, or braiding the long hair on Mystery’s head, pretty much doing anything to Mystery. Ok maybe she let him do the braiding much to Mystery’s dislike, but at least she stopped him from doing anything dangerous. She didn’t want to know how hard it would be if he had properly working legs to keep him out of trouble.  
Eventually she found having him talk was the best way to get him to behave. Which is how they came to the conversation they were having right now.  
“So I’m guessing the horrible beasts that are supposed to roam there also don’t exist?” Vivi asked a bit of hope creeping into her voice.  
“Nope,” Galahad giggled, “Wow you elves have some strange stories.”  
Vivi relaxed, suddenly feeling a large weight off her shoulders at realizing that Arthur wasn’t in as much danger as she previously thought. Maybe they actually had a chance of getting to him unharmed. She just had one more question and she had to admit she was worried about what the answer would be.  
“Ok so what about the goblins themselves?” she asked.  
Galahad tilted his head in confusion. “What about them?” he questioned.  
“I mean the stories say they lock elves in dark cells and get entertainment out of torturing them,” she clarified, once again trying to block out the images of what she feared could be happening to Arthur out of her mind.   
Galahad frowned, “Well I never heard that before but…. I don’t really know.”  
Vivi’s hopeful expression faded. “What do you mean you don’t know?” she asked, slight desperation in her voice.  
“I mean I don’t know. Gremlins only go to the goblin realm to get food; we don’t talk to the goblins. None of us know what goblins are like, we just keep to ourselves. In fact you’re actually the first elf I’ve ever talked to,” Galahad answered.  
“Oh…” was all Vivi could say as a pit of dread started to form in her stomach.   
Seeing Vivi was upset, Galahad crawled into her hand and hugged her forearm gently. “Don’t worry will save him,” he reassured her.  
Vivi managed a smile and rested her other hand on the small gremlin. “I know, I’m just scared of what’s happening to him now,” she told him.  
Galahad nodded before looking up and calling out to Mystery, “Go right here.”  
“Right? But the goblin realm is northeast of here, going right will take us south,” Mystery puzzled.  
“Yes but the Mist of the Mind is also northeast of here,” Galahad countered, “If we want to avoid it we have to go south.”  
“Mist of the Mind?” Vivi asked.  
“Yes it’s an ever present mist that is enchanted with dark magic. Anyone who goes in there is subject to horrible hallucinations and those who make it out have been driven to near insanity,” Galahad explained.  
Vivi winced. “Well then that sounds like something we want to avoid,” she agreed.  
“Right it is then,” Mystery said before running in that direction.  
-  
Lewis didn’t want to wake up. He was so comfortable and having Arthur curled up to him was sending so many happy feelings through him. He looked down at the elf and smiled. His spiky hair was messed up every which way and a small trickle of drool was dried on his cheek, Arthur looked so cute when he was asleep. Cute and very kissable. Before he realized what he was doing Lewis had leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Arthur’s forehead.  
Arthur made a noise that could have only been compared to a kitten mewing and buried his face deeper into Lewis’ chest. “5 more minutes Viv…” he mumbled, and Lewis tensed.   
He looked away trying to ignore the sting in his hart at that and moved to try and shake Arthur awake. There were more protests before an amber eye cracked open and looked up at the goblin. Arthur pouted but slowly turned to face Lewis.  
“No, I’m not getting up. You’re too comfy,” Arthur complained.  
“Arthur I have to get up to make breakfast,” Lewis chuckled; all thought of Arthur’s sleepy mumbles gone for now.  
“Don’t care,” Arthur replied.   
“Guess then someone doesn’t want seafood pasta for lunch then,” Lewis threatened, knowing it was Arthur’s favorite dish that he made.  
On cue Arthur’s eyes shot open and he gave the goblin a glare. “Fine I’m up, I’m up,” he grumbled.   
Lewis smiled as he unwrapped his arms and wings from around the small body he’d been holding. It wasn’t easy to move as he’d been way too comfortable as well but he needed to get up and make sure no one had noticed he wasn’t in his chambers last night.  
“I’ll be back soon with breakfast,” he promised before flying out the window.   
-  
This arrangement lasted for several more nights until it became routine. It came to the point where Lewis couldn’t imagine falling asleep without Arthur in his arms. However, he knew he was eventually going to have to. Arthur didn’t belong here, and they needed to find a way to get him home before someone found him.  
The idea of letting go of Arthur was a painful one but he knew it was something he had to do. It wasn’t like he’d been doing much to help that though. He hadn’t even really tried looking for a way to get him home. That needed to change. As much as it hurt Lewis vowed to do whatever he could to find a way from the goblin realm to the elf kingdom from now until he accomplished it.


	14. Chapter 14

“How big is this Mist of the Mind? We’ve been going south for over a day now,” Vivi asked.  
“It stretches almost to the ends of the goblin realm. There’s only a narrow pathway between it and the Dead Forest,” Galahad explained.  
“Oh great, a mind altering mist on one side and a forest full of undead monsters on the other,” Mystery groaned.  
“Don’t worry the path’s wide enough so we’ll be far enough away from both the mist and the monsters,” Galahad giggled, leaning down to look at Mystery’s right eye again.  
Mystery huffed in annoyance and shook his head to try and get Galahad to stop. It worked but not in the way he wanted. The tiny gremlin lost his grip on Mystery’s fur and went plummeting to the ground. Without thinking Mystery quickly snatched him in his jaws careful not to bight down.   
Galahad let out a scared squeak as he found himself surrounded by teeth and started to tremble in panic. Mystery quickly put the squirming gremlin back on his back who immediately latched onto the soft fur and buried himself in it.  
“Hey it’s ok,” Vivi soothed, patting Galahad’s small head.   
It took a while for Galahad to calm down after that but thankfully it wasn’t as long as it had been when they first found him. However, instead of becoming his normal ball of uncontrollable annoying energy he just sat on Mystery’s head staring down at him. This lasted for about 3 hours before Mystery finally caved and looked up at him.  
“What?” he asked trying to keep the bight out of his tone.  
Galahad didn’t even flinch and just continued staring. “Thanks,” he finally mumbled.  
Mystery looked up to Galahad a bit confused. “That’s it? You’ve been staring at me for hours now and it’s just because you wanted to say thanks?” he questioned.  
“Yeah and um… sorry for thinking… you were going to eat me…” Galahad said though it was slightly muffled by the thick fur as he buried his face in it.  
Mystery halted. “You thought I was going to eat you?” he echoed.  
Galahad shrank down glad Mystery couldn’t see him while he was on his head. “Yeah, it’s just that when you’re as small as me lots of things see you as a meal,” he started to explain, “And well suddenly being surrounded by teeth is scary for anyone. I didn’t think you were just saving me from the fall and were going to put me back. I just panicked and…”  
“Hey that’s not something you have to apologize for I understand,” Mystery cut in, “If anything I should be the one apologizing I should have known you weren’t holding on and not knocked you off like that.”  
Galahad blinked. “Wait you’re sorry about that? But it was an accident, you don’t have to be sorry for that,” he argued.  
Mystery chuckled. “And you don’t have to be sorry for being scared,” he insisted.  
Galahad smiled ok maybe Mystery had a point.  
Vivi stayed quiet as she watched the two of them talk and smiled to herself.  
They continued to walk for a while until Galahad looked to the sky and frowned. “Do we have anything to keep us dry in the rain?” he asked, “We’re getting close to the Ever Storm.”  
“Ever Storm? Let me guess another obstacle preventing us from getting into the goblin realm,” Vivi groaned.  
Galahad shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. “Well if goblins are like your stories say they are then isn’t it a good thing it’s hard to get across the border?” he pointed out.  
Vivi deflated but still looked upset. Any other time it would be a comfort to know the border between the goblin realm and the elf kingdom was near impossible to cross but right now it was just another thing in between her and Arthur.  
“So what is this Ever Storm?” Mystery asked.  
“It’s a massive downpour that never stops,” Galahad answered.  
“That’s it? That doesn’t sound so bad,” Vivi said.  
“It wouldn’t be if years of endless rain didn’t turn the ground into a maze of muddy sinkholes,” Galahad countered.  
“Of course,” Vivi sighed, “Can’t Mystery turn into a giant bird again and fly us over?”   
Galahad shook his head. “No the clouds are full of random lightning strikes and the air is too thin over the clouds to breathe if we try to fly over them,” he explained.  
“Fine then how do we get passed it,” Vivi grumbled.  
“Don’t worry there’s a solid strip of rock with only shallow mud puddles on it. I’ll show you where it is and tell you what’s a mud puddle and what’s a sinkhole,” Galahad reassured.  
Vivi frowned not as comforted as Galahad was trying to make her but nodded.  
A crackle of thunder broke the silence and they all looked to the dark clouds not far away.  
The journey through the Ever Storm was grueling and miserable. The dark strip of rock was slick and it was difficult for Mystery to keep his footing. For a small creature like Galahad it wouldn’t have been as bad but some of the solid ground was narrow and they had nearly fallen into a sinkhole far too many times for comfort. If it wasn’t for Galahad and a quick fire ball from Mystery to temporally dry the mud he’d got his back paw stuck in they would have never made it.  
Finally they got to the other side tired, soaking wet, and covered in mud.   
“Ugh and I thought falling in the river was bad,” Vivi complained. She then quickly started stripping off her clothes not caring this time that Mystery could see.   
Galahad noticed what she was doing and quickly ran behind Mystery with an exaggerated ‘EEEEEWWWW’.  
Mystery laughed before taking the gremlin away so Vivi could have her privacy.   
Once Vivi had changed into something dry and laid her clothes out for a second time Mystery came back in his human from with an arm full of branches with an amazed Galahad trailing behind. She smiled at this remembering her own shock at seeing Mystery transform. Even if Galahad already knew it was still a sight to see.  
Mystery set the wood he was holding down in a pile and started to make a fire. With a spark from his hand it wasn’t long until they had a good blaze going.  
“The pass between the Mist of the Mind and the Dead Forest isn’t that far away. It should only take us about an hour riding on Mystery,” Galahad said.  
“Good,” Mystery said, “Then we have time to rest before we get going again. I don’t know about you but trudging through all that rain and nearly drowning in mud several times was exhausting and I’m sleeping before we go anywhere else.”  
Vivi nodded absentmindedly and stared in the direction of the goblin realm. She lay down next to Mystery but knew she wouldn’t really get much sleep. They were so close now but still too far to help. It was agony to know she needed to wait before they could go any farther.  
Vaguely she was aware of Galahad curling up next to Mystery but is quickly lost in her thoughts again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok they're almost there, just one more chapter and they should be in the goblin realm and the real action begins. Hope you've been looking forward to that as much as I have.


	15. Chapter 15

Vivi blinked finding that despite it being unlikely she had at some point fallen asleep. Once she was awake she realized what had woken her, a frightened looking Galahad tugging on her hair.  
“Ow, Galahad what’s that for?” she hissed, pulling her hair away from the small hands.  
“I’m sorry I didn’t realize were we were. We fell asleep too close to the Dead Forest!” he explained in a rush.  
“What do you mean too close?” Vivi asked, not liking the sound of that.  
“Exactly what it sounds like! We’re too close,” Galahad almost yelled, “We need to get out of here before one of the forest’s inhabitants finds out we’re here.”  
Finally having the urgency sink in Vivi quickly got to her feet and started packing up camp. Breakfast would just have to wait for now.   
Turning she saw Mystery was already in his large fox form, growling at the trees behind them. Not missing a beat, Vivi grabbed Galahad and jumped onto Mystery’s back and he turned to run the other direction.  
However, just as Mystery was about to take off an earsplitting howl ripped through the air. Looking behind them the three gasped as a giant black and red wolf like creature leapt from the dense trees and landed not more than ten feet from them. Its glowing yellow eyes flashed darkly and it growled lowly but something about it seemed almost familiar.  
“Mystery… that thing looks like…” Vivi started.  
“Like me, I know,” Mystery interrupted before mumbling under his breath, “But that’s impossible.”  
“What?” Galahad asked his sensitive ears being able to pick up what Mystery said.  
“Never mind, we need to get away from this thing,” Mystery barked.  
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done since the wolf monster wasn’t going to let them go easily. As Mystery turned to run again it jumped over them and blocked off they’re only path away from the Undead Forest. Mystery shot a stream of fire at the creature but it only ducked under the flames. It then reared back and their only warning was the crackle of electricity before several bolts of lightning poured from its mouth. If it wasn’t for Vivi quickly putting up a shielding spell they all would have been fried.  
The collision of the lightning against the shield rocked them back but Mystery stood firm. He shot another fire ball and this time it hit its mark. The monster screamed in pain and rage as Mystery ran past it trying to get away. Unfortunately, it quickly recovered and pursued them. They continued to run until a wall of thick mist seemed to appear right in front of them.  
“Mystery! The mist!” Galahad shouted and Mystery halted right before he’d stumbled into the thick fog.  
“Thanks, that was close,” Mystery breathed before his eyes widened, “Guys I have an idea, get off my back now.”  
“Uh ok,” Vivi said, jumping off Mystery’s back.  
The creature let out another stream of lightning from its mouth and Mystery had to duck to avoid it. He turned to face the beast and lunged at it. Obviously the creature wasn’t expecting this and made no move to avoid Mystery slamming into it. The two giant canines might have been equal in speed but it was clear Mystery was superior in strength and it wasn’t long until the creature was the one with its back to the mist.  
“Vivi I need you to make sure it doesn’t try to run to either side,” Mystery ordered.  
“Right,” Vivi agreed letting her hands glow with energy.  
Slowly Mystery started to back the creature towards the mist, not even flinching as it made a lunge for him. Instead Mystery only pushed it back farther. It was unclear if the monster knew what the mist would do but it definitely recognized being cornered and it didn’t like it. In a last effort to get away the creature shot another lightning bolt but not at Mystery. The shot was angled just enough so that it was heading toward Vivi.  
“NO!” Mystery yelled and without thinking leaped in front of her and straight into the path of the lightning. There was a horrible howl of pain and the large fox crumpled to the ground.  
“Mystery!” Vivi cried before snapping her eyes back at the beast. The energy in her hands exploded outwards and hit the monster squarely, shoving it back several feet.  
The monster let out a growl but Vivi was unaffected and just shot another blast this time part of it hitting the creature’s tail. It let out a horrible cry of pain and stumbled back.  
“So your tail is your week spot huh?” Vivi figured. Letting more magic flow into her hands she blasted straight at the beast’s tail.  
The large wolf like being gave the closest thing it could to a surprised face before the blast hit and an earsplitting cry of agony before the beast fell to the ground and then blew away like it was made of smoke.  
“Whoa,” Vivi wobbled a bit on her feet as a wave of dizziness washed over her from the amount of energy she’d used in that last spell. Blinking away the dark spots swimming in her vision she looked to where the monster had been.  
“Well that was… strange,” she decided.  
“That was awesome!” Galahad cheered, “Do you know how hard it is to kill a wood witch’s beast?”  
“What?” Vivi asked.  
Just then a grown from behind them caught their attention and they turned to see Mystery get back to his feet.  
“Mystery!” Vivi called, “You’re hurt you shouldn’t be standing.”  
“I’m fine, it’ll take a lot more than just a lucky shot to kill me,” he told her.  
“No you’re hurt and I have a lot of questions about what just happened,” she shot back.  
Mystery sighed but relented. It was best just to get the inevitable out of the way. “Alright, what questions do you have?” he asked.  
“First of all Galahad said that thing was a wood which beast, why do you look like a wood which beast!” Vivi shouted.  
Mystery winced, he’d hoped to avoid that particular question. “Well I guess the best way to put it is that I am one,” he confessed.  
“What?!” Vivi shrieked.  
“As in I’m made from the same magic but I’m nothing like that mindless creature you defeated. Which I have to agree with Galahad and say you beating it like that was quite impressive,” Mystery explained.  
“Thanks but I want answers not praise,” Vivi countered.  
“Right, anyway I was made with the same kind of magic but not from the same people and far for the same reason. A long time ago there used to be a lot more wood witches all casting dark spells and tormenting all kinds of life to complete their sick ends. I’m not sure what I used to be before I became what I am now but I know that I fell victim to a wood witch many years ago. She had turned me into a large thorn bush and was about to use my soul to make one of her beasts when a group of wizards broke in and killed her. Realizing what was doing with me they freed me the only way they knew how, by completing the spell but granting me my free will. It was how many of people turned plants that couldn’t be changed back were saved. Having nowhere else to go and feeling indebted to the wizards who saved us we helped fight the wood witches. Eventually we got to the point where there were so few wood witches we had to split up to fine them. I thought I’d gotten rid of all the ones that lived in this forest but I found I was wrong,” Mystery finished.  
“So that’s why Shiro was afraid of you when she heard you coming,” Vivi finally said.  
Mystery nodded. “Yes, though I don’t think that was the real Shiro Mori,” he revealed.  
“What? What do you mean that wasn’t the real Shiro?” Vivi asked.  
“I mean if that had been an actual wood witch it wouldn’t have been that easy to kill her,” Mystery explained.  
“You call that easy, she nearly killed us both several times,” Vivi argued.  
“Compared to killing a real wood witch, yes that was easy. Just cutting off her head tree wouldn’t kill a real wood witch, that was just a branch, a copy that would do less important work while the real one is off doing something else,” he informed.  
“Great, please tell me that killing her branch or whatever didn’t make her mad and now we’re on her ‘to kill’ list,” Vivi sighed.  
“Considering she managed to get one of her beasts out this far and then pretty much waist it by trying to kill us I would say that’s a fair bet,” Mystery replied.  
“Great,” Vivi groaned, flopping over next to Mystery, “Just what we need.”  
“Come on, we should get going,” Mystery said.  
“Yeah one problem with that,” Vivi protested, “I can’t move. I used most of my energy fighting that dumb beast and whatever I had left to get that story out of you.”  
“Oh…” Mystery frown. Throughout the whole trip Vivi had wanted nothing but to get to the goblin realm faster. If she was saying she couldn’t go then she really couldn’t go. Lying back down she curled around her as she stayed as limp a rag doll.  
“It’s still a few hours until morning. Most of the goblins should be asleep right now, so Arthur should be alright for now,” Galahad reassured her.  
Vivi gave the closest thing she could to a nod before her eyes slid closed and she was in deep sleep.  
-  
Chloe looked up from her book when she heard a familiar tapping on her window and quickly jumped up to open it. Once open in flew a handsome goblin with bright green eyes and hair. He turned toward Chloe and smiled.  
“Markus!” Chloe gushed, running over to the other goblin and hugging him tight.  
Markus chuckled at the affection and placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s good to see you too Chloe, but I’m sorry this isn’t a friendly visit,” he said seriously.  
“Is it about the elf army?” she asked worriedly, “I tried telling the council but they didn’t believe me.”  
“I know, sometimes people in charge can be very thickheaded. I’m sorry you were subject to their ridicule, but I have to tell you this right now,” Markus told her.  
Chloe stayed quiet and nodded, ready to listen.   
“There’s an elf already in the goblin realm,” he warned her.  
“What?!” Chloe cried in alarm.  
“Shh! We can’t let anyone hear about this,” Markus shushed her.  
“But if an elf is already here shouldn’t we tell someone?” Chloe asked.  
“Tell who? The council didn’t believe you about the army why would they believe you about this?” Markus explained.  
Chloe frowned; he had a good point there.  
“What’s really alarming is that I found out this elf has been here for near a month now,” Markus continued.  
“What? But how can an elf be here for that long and not be noticed?” Chloe asked.  
“He must have someone under his control,” Markus reasoned, “Chloe, have you noticed anyone acting strange lately or just doing something they wouldn’t normally do?”  
Chloe frowned in thought before her eyes went wide. “Lewis, I was talking to him about his odd behavior just the other day,” she breathed, “Oh god.”  
“Chloe, calm down, look at me. We’ll save your friend but if we alert the elf that we know about this then who knows what he’ll do. Right now I need you to keep a close eye on Lewis. If you ever see him with the elf I want you to follow them and find out everything you can about what he’s planning. Ok?” Markus told her.  
Chloe nodded.  
“Good, now I have to go, but stay safe and remember what I told you,” he said moving back to the window.  
“I will,” Chloe said.  
“I know I can always count on you,” Markus said before flying out the window. Once he was far enough away so she couldn’t see him Markus smiled darkly. “Step one complete.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I'm sure someone else used Markus as a name for the green demon but I couldn't think of another one that fit. So sorry if anyone feels like I'm stealing.   
> Also I didn't expect Mystery's whole back story to be dumped on you guys like this but Vivi is stubborn and she just kinda took over. So yeah. Of course right when we're almost there is the time she decides to stop and take a break.
> 
> Anyway hope you liked this chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

Vivi woke up still feeling like the dead but at least she was able to move her body eve if it was stiffly. Part of her still didn’t want to move, Mystery’s tails were soft and warm and the idea of getting out from under them was unpleasant. However, the sky was already starting to lighten with the first rays of sun and she knew that meant she wouldn’t be the only waking. The goblins would be waking up soon too and the thought that Arthur would suffer any more than he needed to was more than enough for her to drag herself to her feet.  
Luckily it looked like Mystery and Galahad were already up. After swallowing down an apple and some chees for breakfast she grabbed the gremlin and jumped onto Mystery’s back and soon they were on their way again.   
The pathway between the Mist of the Mind and the Dead Forest was actually much wider than one would expect. In fact three trolls could walk shoulder to shoulder quite comfortably down the path.  
“Wow when you said we’d have plenty of room to avoid the mist and forest I didn’t know you meant this much,” Vivi commented.  
“What you thought I mean it was just a narrow space you could just barley squeeze threw or something?” Galahad joked.  
“Considering our luck so far, kinda,” Vivi answered.  
Galahad laughed. “Trust me this is actually the easiest part and now that we’re traveling during the day it’s a lot safer too. The undead hate the sun so as long as we don’t get too close to the trees they won’t bother us,” he told them.  
“Well that’s nice,” I’d like to have a day where we don’t have to fight or run from something,” Mystery stated.  
Vivi gave a nod of agreement looking down at the still visible burns the wood witch’s beast had given him. She felt torn; they were only going the speed of a normal horse right now to not risk Mystery hurting himself even more, but that also meant they wouldn’t reach the goblin realm until late in the evening. Every second they spent traveling was another second Arthur was held captive by the goblins, having who knows what done to him. Still if they had to fight the goblins to get Arthur free it would be better if Mystery wasn’t injured.  
Her internal debate was making her heard hurt and she rested her head down on Mystery’s neck. She pulled the soulmate stone out and focused on its pulsating warmth. As long as it kept beating she at least knew that Arthur was still alive and they still had time. If only she knew how much.  
-  
Lewis growled throwing down the book he’d been looking through, another dead end, just another useless story full of lies and hate. This was frustrating. He’d been in the library almost all day and still had found nothing.  
Every book would describe in far too much detail how horrible and evil elves were but none of them said how the elves managed to get to the goblin realm in the first place. Any that did mention something were hardly ones that could be taken seriously. One of them actually described elves with glowing eyes and jagged teeth. Really? Elves weren’t undead monsters!  
Lewis sighed, he wasn’t getting anywhere with these books. Maybe tomorrow he’d go out to the thorn forest and see if there was any brake in the thick mist that block any few beyond. Lewis had thought of just flying through the mist but he’d witnessed the effects it had on the goblins that did fly into it and he was not willing to risk that, especially with Arthur.  
Still these thoughts didn’t help his anger. All he really wanted to do was go back to the tower and curl up with Arthur. He had just turned to do that when his wing brushed one of the books and knocked it off the table. Grumbling to himself he bent down to pick it up only to find something sticking out of it. Confused, Lewis pulled the small bit of folded paper out and spread it out to be seen.  
His eyes widened as he let out an excided gasp. Without even bothering to put the book away, he ran out of the library and quickly took to flight.  
He was in such a rush he didn’t see the green eyes following him or the dark smile that accompanied them.  
-  
Arthur sighed. He’d been thinking, about a lot of things, mostly about Lewis and how he felt towards him. The goblin had been working so hard to find a way to bring him home, all without any luck and it was only making him mad. He could always see the frustration and disgust whenever he came to visit after looking through the stories that contained the horrible descriptions of his kind.  
Arthur couldn’t blame him, if it had been the other way around he’d probably be ready to burn the kingdom’s whole library down. If he ever got back home he was definitely going to make it illegal to keep writing stories about goblins like that.  
He frowned a bit. The idea of going home was still something he wanted but at the same time that meant leaving Lewis behind. His heart clenched at the thought and quickly tried to push it away. However, that was when Lewis flew into the room holding up an old piece of paper and a huge grin on his face.  
“Arthur,” he called turning to the bed, “I found it. A way to get you back to the elf kingdom!”  
“You did? How?” Arthur asked, trying to sound more excited then he felt.  
Lewis held out the paper for Arthur to see. On it was what looked like a map with several lines drawn all over it. “It’s a map of a massive underground tunnel system that connects the goblin realm with the elf kingdom,” he explained.  
“Really?” Arthur said, now more intrigued.  
“Yes and there’s even one that leads right to the edge of the elf kingdom,” Lewis pointed showing a near straight line to the elf kingdom, “The entrance is in a cave right on the edge of the undead forest, but if we leave in the morning it should be safe to go there.”  
“This sounds perfect; I can’t believe you found this!” Arthur praised, actually very impressed that Lewis had found this. Also if it was this easy to get him back home maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to come back and visit? Of course he’d keep that too himself, he didn’t want to get his hope up if the tunnel turned out to be harder than it looked.  
“It’ll take a few days to travel all the way through the tunnel, I’ll go pack some things and we can leave in the morning,” Lewis told him.  
Arthur nodded. “Alright,” he paused, “Will you still sleep with me tonight?”  
Lewis’ smile softened. “Of course,” he answered, “I’ll be back with our bags tonight.”  
Arthur smiled. “Ok, see you tonight,” he said.  
“See you tonight,” Lewis repeated. He turned to the window but stopped before turning and pulling him into a hug, arms and wings wrapping around him tightly.   
Arthur was so caught off guard by this he only had a second to hug back before Lewis turned to leave.   
He lay back on the bed and sighed. It was always hard waiting for Lewis to come back but Arthur knew this time would be the hardest of all of them.  
-  
As predicted the sun was low in the sky when Vivi, Mystery, and Galahad made it to the thorn forest. Thanks to the gremlins help they made it through the thick, thorny vines. The path was winding and sometimes they had to go a long ways in the wrong direction before it went back on track. By the time they were on the other side dusk had already started to settle.  
Vivi pulled out the soulmate stone and let it lead them in the right direction. As it led them closer and closer to the dark mountains and black castle, Vivi’s heart began to sink. If Arthur was in there, then all her fears could very much be real.   
Once they got to the foot of the mountain, Mystery transformed into his large bird form and flew them up to the castle. It was a bit difficult finding where Arthur was without being seen by any of the guards but eventually Vivi was able to tell Mystery to go to the east tower. Mystery flew them up to the only entrance, two massive shutters over a large window the size of a door.  
The shutters were surprisingly unlocked, though she guessed it would be kind of impossible for someone without wings to get down. Slowly opening one of the shutters she peered in and looked inside. A small fire illuminated the room and it wasn’t long until she located the bed.  
Her eyes caught a familiar shock of yellow hair and she only just stopped herself from calling out with joy at seeing Arthur for the first time in nearly a month. What stopped her was seeing that Arthur wasn’t the only thing in the bed. Wrapped around him were two strong wings, holding him close to what was unmistakably a very large goblin.   
Vivi had to cover her mouth with a hand to prevent herself from gasping at the sight. A mass of emotion rushed through her, fear, anger, sadness, and for some reason jealousy. She wanted nothing more than to run right in there and pull Arthur away from that monster’s grasp. The only thing stopping her from doing that was Galahad tugging at her pant leg and asking what she saw.  
Quickly closing the shutter as quietly as she could, she knelt down so she could talk to both him and Mystery. “Arthur’s in there, but he’s being held by a really big goblin,” she answered.  
“Well what are you waiting for, go save him!” Galahad told her.  
“No,” Mystery cut in, “If she tries to save Arthur now, she’ll wake the goblin and we have no idea what he’ll do. Being that close to Arthur, he could hurt him before you had a chance to save him and what if he has a way to call for more goblins? It’s too dangerous right now, we need a plan.”  
Vivi’s heart sank. What Mystery said was true. Just running in there would put Arthur at risk, which was the opposite of what they were trying to do. She sighed and nodded her head.  
“You’re right. We’ll find someplace safe and think of a plan to free him, but we get him out before they hurt him anymore,” she stated, with no room for argument.  
Both Galahad and Mystery agreed and Mystery flew off to a small cave in the side of the mountain, where they could see the tower, but remain out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok they finally made it to the goblin realm. Right when Lewis found a way to get Arthur back to the elf kingdom! Or did he?  
> Either way we all know what happens when Arthur and Lewis are alone together in a cave. *Evil grin*


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is people hope you like it.

Arthur groaned. He didn’t want to get up. He knew what waking up meant and he didn’t want to leave. He just wanted to curl into Lewis and stay there forever. However, he knew he couldn’t. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and looked up into Lewis’. The sight made his heart melt and he wished he could wake up to it every morning. It hurt knowing this would be the last one. Maybe he could convince Lewis to let him stay longer. There really wasn’t any immediate danger of him being found, what harm would one more night be?  
He was just about to voice his thoughts when he suddenly thought of Vivi. How worried must she be, with him in a place everyone thought was so dangerous? No as much as he wanted to stay he couldn’t put her through that and his heart still ached for her. He may love Lewis but he loved Vivi too and wanted to be with her as terribly as he wanted to stay with Lewis. It hurt to do so but he knew what he needed to do.  
“Hey Lewis,” he started.  
“Yes?” Lewis asked, and Arthur tried to ignore the longing in his voice.  
“You said we needed to leave in the morning if we wanted to get to the cave safely,” he said, quietly.  
Lewis sighed and nodded, before unwrapping his wings from around Arthur and sitting up. Arthur had to bite back a whine as this happened and focused on getting out of the bed as well. Thankfully, Lewis had made both of them breakfast last night and brought it up to the tower. All it took was a small burst of Lewis’ fire to heat the plates up and they were ready to eat.  
They ate in silence neither wanting there last moments together to be spent like this but neither knew what to say. Eventually they both finished and got their bags together. Lewis took ahold of Arthur, much like he’d done when he found him out by the thorn forest, and opened the shutters. Lewis spread his wings and they were off.   
-  
“Vivi, wake up!” Galahad called, tugging on her hair.  
“Ow, Galahad. Do you have to wake me up like that every time?” Vivi asked getting up and shewing the gremlin away.  
“The goblin took Arthur out of the tower!” he yelled pointing to the castle.  
“What?! Where did he take him?” she demanded.  
“He started flying south towards the Undead Forest,” Galahad told her.  
Vivi’s heart nearly stopped at the words but she pushed threw her fear and turned to Mystery who was just now rising thanks to all the yelling.  
“What’s going on?” he asked sleepily.  
“The goblin is taking Arthur to the Undead Forest!” Vivi yelled as she grabbed her bag and quickly started climbing onto his back.   
Mystery understood the urgency and as soon as Galahad was on his back as well he leapt from the mountain side. Still being in his large bird form he caught the wind easily and went in hot pursuit of Lewis and Arthur.  
-  
From the shadows cast by the tower Chloe watched as the two groups took flight. After making sure there was enough distance that they wouldn’t notice her following she jumped into the wind and flew after them. Markus had told her to follow if she ever saw Lewis taking the elf somewhere, but not to be seen as she did. She was determined to do exactly what he told her.  
-  
Once they reached the edge of the Undead Forest, Lewis landed and looked around. The cave was not at all hard to spot and the two cautiously made their way over to it. As they got closer and ominous feeling of dread washed over them, but that could just be blamed on the incredibly creepy look of it. Several stalagmites and stalactites lined the entrance to the cave, making it look like the large mouth of some giant monster. Thick mist poured from deeper in the cave and it even looked like it had an eerie green glow to it.   
Neither of them really wanted to go into the cave but at the same time they both felt compelled to do so. Grabbing hold of Arthur’s hand and holding him close Lewis led them down the dark path. It was hard to see where they were going with the thick mist swirling around them. If it wasn’t for the flame Lewis held in his hand that wasn’t holding Arthur’s they’d probably not even be able to see the path in front of them.   
Eventually the path started to slope upwards and the feeling of dread got stronger. Arthur clung to Lewis as they waked not liking this one bit. The path then suddenly came to a stop as it ended at the edge of a cliff that overlooked a pit of very sharp stalagmites.  
The two stopped, not seeing the edge until they were almost stepping off it. Lewis quickly took several steps back, taking Arthur with him.  
This was most definitely the wrong way to go but when they turned to try and go back the way they came all they saw was a mass of green. Lewis tried to illuminate the path with more fire but the green mist state as opaque as ever.   
Neither of them wanted to go back down the path when they couldn’t see but at the same time there wasn’t any way else for them to go. They were trapped.  
“What do we do now?” Arthur asked, eyeing the mist.  
“I don’t know, but we’re not going into that mist without knowing where we’re going,” Lewis stated resolutely.   
Arthur nodded but frowned, “But we can’t go anywhere else. The only other direction is off a cliff.”  
“I know, maybe I can find a way to climb down it and we can look around the pit to see if there’s a way out,” Lewis suggested.  
“Well ok. Just be careful,” Arthur agreed, “I don’t want you falling off the ledge.”  
“I will,” Lewis reassured before going over to the ledge and peering over it.  
Neither of them noticed as the wall of mist started inching closer.  
-  
Mystery landed outside the cave not long after Lewis and Arthur went inside. Frowning at the dark look of the cave Vivi only gave Mystery time to transform back into his large fox form before sliding off his back and running headlong into the cave. Mystery and Galahad called after her but she didn’t listen. She needed to get to Arthur as fast as possible. Not wanting her to get lost or hurt in there Mystery and Galahad quickly followed after.  
Like with Lewis and Arthur the mist was thick around them and it was nearly impossible to see where they were going. However, they found themselves on a path leading down and they soon came to a room that was nothing but large pointed stalagmites. They were so close together it was hard to find a path through them. Still Vivi pushed through, this place was obviously dangerous and she did not like the idea of Arthur being with a goblin in this place.   
She looked around trying to find where he might be but all she could see was green. Green mist, green rock, green spikes, there was nothing but green.  
Just then she heard something from above her and she saw something big falling and into the pit of spikes surrounding her.  
-  
Chloe landed outside the cave and looked in. She’d seen Lewis go in there with an elf and another elf follow them with a giant shapeshifting beast. What Markus told her was true.  
She looked into the cave but all she could see was green mist. She’d been told to just observe and wait for Markus to show up before she did anything but she couldn’t see anything. A horrible feeling of dread washed over her and she suddenly knew something bad was about to happen.  
She could hear faint echoes from farther in the cave. It was a male’s voice she didn’t recognize. It must have been the elf controlling Lewis, she thought. She strained to hear what was being said but it was too quiet. All she could make out were the words ‘cliff’ and ‘off the ledge.’  
Chloe’s heart felt like it stopped for an agonizingly silent minute before a deafening roar of pain in a voice she knew all too well. Her whole world seemed to tilt and a horrible drowning sadness consumed her. She was too late. Lewis was… oh god…  
Just then the green mist that had been obscuring her view into the cave dissipated and her eyes locked onto a lone figure standing at the end of one of the pathways. It was the elf she saw Lewis carrying out of the tower.   
The crushing sadness was replaced with blinding anger and she lunged. “Murderer!”  
-  
Arthur wasn’t quite sure what had happened. He watched as Lewis went over to the ledge to see if there was a way down and then his entire vision was engulfed in green. He’d tried to call out to Lewis for help but the words were locked in his throat. He reached out trying to find him but all he got was a faint brush of wings before they were gone. The pain filled roar seemed to tare through his body, and suddenly the green was gone.  
All the energy in Arthur’s body seemed to go with it and he staggered on his feet. Lewis was nowhere to be seen. His eyes locked on the ledge and he felt the viol rise in his throat.   
“No…” was the only thing he could get out before and infuriated shout came from behind him and he was pinned to the wall.  
Sharp claws dug into his left shoulder and he let out a cry of pain. It took a while for him to clear his head enough to see what attacked him and he peered into the very angry eyes of another goblin he didn’t recognize.  
“YOU KILLED HIM!” she bellowed and the claws dug deeper into his arm.  
Arthur hissed but refused to let the pain distract him. Lewis had fallen off the cliff. He needed help. Lewis wasn’t dead, he couldn’t be dead.  
“Nnn….no I…” he was cut off as a hand came up to silence him, much more roughly than anytime Lewis had done it. His head hit the rock wall behind him and he saw stars for a moment.  
“Not a word elf,” Chloe snarled.  
For the second time since his arrival in the goblin realm, Arthur heard a loud rip and a makeshift gag was shoved in his mouth. This time it was tied even tighter than when he’d done it.  
Looking down he saw that his vest was now in tatters and a small pang of sadness hit him. Lewis had given him that vest. Right. Lewis! Arthur tried to break free of Chloe’s grip but even if she was smaller than Lewis she was still very strong and held him tight.  
Without another word she dragged him out of the cave and took flight back to the castle. In her mind Lewis was dead and the monster that killed him would get everything he deserved.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I couldn't tell if Vivi was being too mean to Lewis or not, I want this to be an OT3 fic after all. However, I decided that if Lewis could try to kill Arthur and the OT3 can work than some rough treatment from Vivi would be ok.  
> Also warning for blood and broken bones.

Vivi stood their frozen at the sight in front of her. Now with the mist gone there was nothing obscuring her view of large wings impaled on many spikes, as red dripped to the floor in small puddles. The wings were bent and broken at odd angles that were most definitely not natural, but were the only things keeping the goblin’s body from falling onto the rest of the spikes right below him, one dangerously close to his heart. Vivi would have retched if she’d been coherent enough to do so. All she could really do was stare as her brain tried to process what she was seeing.  
Just then Mystery came up next to her, having to take a longer way around the spikes since he was so much larger than her. His eyes then landed on the goblin and he gasped sharply.  
This seemed to snap Vivi out of her stupor and she blinked up at the large fox. This seemed to snap Lewis out of his shock as well as he tried to find a way to get his wings off the stalagmites. This unfortunately didn’t work and only managed to make his wings slide farther down the spikes which was accompanied by a horrible taring sound and a whimper from the goblin.  
Not able to witness the sight anymore, Mystery quickly stepped forward and placed his head below Lewis’ body. Lifting up, slowly the wings came free and the goblin slid down to his back. Mystery then made his way over to a section of the cave where there were no spikes and set him down. Vivi and Galahad followed close after, Vivi’s eyes never leaving Lewis’ form.  
Lewis groaned in pain as he was set down, taking deep breaths to try and ignore the pain. The spikes had damaged his wings so badly he wondered if he’d be able to fly again. Just then Vivi came into his vision again and he gasped.  
“Vivi?” he asked, unbelieving.  
Vivi stopped and looked to the goblin in shock. “How do you know my name?” she questioned, not even trying to hide the disgust in her voice, though the fear was well masked.  
“Arthur,” was all Lewis could manage, still finding it hard to think with his wings so torn up.  
Of course with that one word Vivi lost it. Her hands exploded in blue light and the next thing Lewis knew he was pinned up against the wall, his wings screaming in pain.  
“Vivi!” Mystery exclaimed, but Vivi wasn’t listening. It didn’t matter how injured Lewis was she needed to know where Arthur was and more importantly if he was ok.  
“Where is he,” she demanded, the tendrils of magic squeezing Lewis harder.  
“Ah…” Lewis grit his teeth against the pain but ignored it and pointed to the ledge he fell from.  
Once Vivi knew of Arthur’s location she let her magic go not even glancing at Lewis as he fell to the ground with a whimper. Mystery, not able to leave Lewis like that, picked him up and places him on his back before running after Vivi who was already at the path leading back up. Once past the spikes he was able to catch up to her pretty quickly and they all go to the cliff to find no one there.  
“He’s not here,” Vivi growls as she turns to glare at Lewis, but Mystery cuts her off before she starts yelling again.  
“No, but he was here.”  
“How do you know that?” Vivi asked.  
“Because I still know what an elf smells like and I can smell another elf other than you. I can also smell another goblin other than this one. It can be assumed that this other goblin is the reason Arthur isn’t here,” Mystery explained.  
“What?!” Lewis exclaimed, “We have to catch them. Whoever the other goblin was probably thought he made me fall. We have to stop them before something happens to Arthur.”  
The others are rather surprised by this but it’s Vivi who speaks first, “Why do you care?”  
“Because, I like Arthur. I know you think I hurt him but I didn’t. I’ve done my best to be nice to him since I found him by the thorn forest. I kept him in the tower to protect him from other goblins, not because they would maliciously hurt him but because goblins are just afraid of elves as elves are of goblins,” he explained, emotions allowing him to speak through the pain, “but that’s not important right now what is important is getting to Arthur before something happens to him.”  
Vivi gave Lewis another suspicious look before getting on Mystery’s back. As much as she hated to admit it Lewis was right, they needed to go before Arthur got into real danger.   
Mystery turned to the cave exit and started to run towards it when suddenly a chunk of the wall came lose and fell in front of them, missing them by inches. Unfortunately, the abrupt stop caused Vivi and Lewis to be knocked off Mystery’s back, Galahad only managed to stay on by grabbing ahold of his tail at the last moment. Just then more rocks started falling from the ceiling and if it wasn’t for Lewis quickly pulling Vivi out of the way she would have been crushed under the boulders. The problem was that with his injuries making it hard to move he was only able to pull them to the side away from Mystery as the path was fully blocked off by the falling rocks.   
“Vivi, are you alright?” Mystery asked from the other side of the barrier that divided them now.   
“Yeah I’m alright,” she answered then looked to Lewis who was lying on the ground panting, “The… the goblin saved me…”  
There was a moment of silence before Mystery spoke again, “Good, I’ll try to get you out of there.”  
“No, that’ll take too long. Arthur needs help now,” Vivi argued.  
“Vivi you don’t understand those boulders didn’t fall on their own, something dark is in here,” Mystery tried, but Vivi wasn’t going to listen when Arthur was in danger. Eventually he had no choice but to leave them there and hope things would be ok when he got back. “Alright, I’ll be back here as soon as I get Arthur back,” he promised before running out of the cave and taking flight as a bird once more.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas. Your present is the next chapter I finally got around to writing.

Vivi glared at the wall of rocks that was far too much for her to ever hope to move on her own. For some reason her magic didn’t have any effect on them and it was soon clear that all she was doing was exhausting herself in her attempts. Eventually she just gave up and sat down too tired to do anything else. Her eyes then started to wander around the cave but there wasn’t much to see that wasn’t green rock. However, she stubbornly refused to look at the goblin so green rocks it was. Unfortunately, there was only so much someone could look at green rocks and eventually her eyes went to the crumpled purple form on the ground.  
It was odd. The same boiling hatred she’d felt towards him before had simmered down to a point she couldn’t really bring herself to keep it up anymore. She didn’t like to admit it but she knew it was wrong to hate him now anyway. He’d saved her life and if what he’d said was true he’d saved Arthur’s as well. Eventually she couldn’t stand the awkward staring anymore and spoke up.  
“Hey…” she called and Lewis looked to her, “I just wanted to say… well thanks for saving me during the cave in. Even if we’re trapped we’re at least alive, right?”  
Lewis looked to her in confusion but was able to answer with a small smile.  
The awkward silence returned and Vivi looked around for something else to talk about. Her eyes eventually landed on the path leading up to the cliff overlooking the spike pit and she looked back to Lewis.  
“So if you really weren’t here to hurt Arthur than what were you here for?” she asked.  
Lewis looked in the direction she was looking and shrunk back. He then pulled the map he’d found in the book and showed it to her.  
“There was supposed to be a tunnel that leads out of the goblin realm and to the elf kingdom from here,” he explained.  
“Really? Let me see that,” Vivi said grabbing for the map. Once in her hand she inspected it carefully. She found the tunnel that Lewis had mentioned and frowned. “This… doesn’t make any sense,” she mumbled to herself.  
“What do you mean?” Lewis asked.  
“I mean there’s no way a tunnel, natural or dug, can form like this and it’s drawn with a much shakier hand than the rest of the map is. Whoever had this map before you altered it,” Vivi explained. She pressed a finger on the paper and let a small spark of magic out. Lewis flinched at that but she didn’t see, too focused on the ink rearranging itself on the map. “Just as I thought the tunnel you were going to use doesn’t exist.”  
“So you’re saying that this was a trap all along?” Lewis realized.  
“Yes, and if it was by the person I think it is…” her eyes went wide, “Then Arthur is in more danger then we thought.” She looked desperately at the wall of rocks that was blocking their exit. In a fit of frustration she shot another bolt of lightning at it but once again it did nothing. As she did this, however, the soulmate stone fell out of her pocket and made a clink as it hit the ground.  
Lewis looked down at the clear heart shaped stone then back to Vivi. Grunting in pain, he slowly made it to his feet and walked over to her, picking up the soulmate stone as he did so. However once his claws touched the stone it instantly started glowing the same bright yellow it had when Vivi held it.  
This got Vivi’s attention and she looked down at the stone before back up to Lewis. Her attacks on the rock pile stopped and all she did was stare at Lewis.  
“You really do care about Arthur…” she said, eyes not leaving his.  
Lewis suddenly felt very self-conscious locked in her gaze like that, several fears once again reemerging. However, not just the ones of elves using magic on goblins but the consequences of letting his feelings for Arthur be shown. He looked away unable to keep looking at Vivi.  
His lack of answer was all Vivi needed. She looked away suddenly feeling very conflicted.  
Just then Lewis stumbled and fell over. His injured wings were starting to take their toll on him. Vivi was only able to stare at him for a while, not knowing what to do. Her eyes went from Lewis’ wings to her hands and back before she knelt down and very cautiously placed a hand on his wing. However, before she was able to do anything Lewis flinched away, eyes wide and full of fear.  
Vivi huffed and crossed her arms. “You’re going to have to hold still if you want me to heal you,” she told him.  
“Heal me?” Lewis repeated.  
“That’s what I said now hold still,” Vivi ordered.  
“Why?” Lewis asked.  
“Because I need to focus on your injuries and it’s easier when you’re holding still,” she explained.  
“No, I mean why would you heal me?” he clarified.  
Vivi opened her mouth to reply but stopped realizing she didn’t know what she was going to say. After thinking about it for a moment she finally told him, “Because I now know that you were telling the truth about caring about Arthur and if we want to get out of here to help him we’re going to need to help each other. Now hold still and I’ll heal your wings.”  
Lewis looked to his wings, if they didn’t get fixed now he might never be able to fly again. Still the lingering fear of what an elf could do to a goblin with magic was there. Arthur had done a lot to quell that fear but he’d also never used magic let alone on him. However, Vivi was right. If they wanted to get out of that cave to help Arthur they needed to help each other first. Slowly Lewis turned so that she could reach his wings.  
Vivi smiled and pressed a hand to each of his wings and let magic spread over them. It wasn’t long until the bones arranged themselves back in the right places and healed back together and the large cuts stitched themselves back together. It took sometime but eventually Lewis’ wings were fully healed. Once she was done Vivi pulled away panting a bit by how much magic she had to use after already using so much on the rock wall.  
“How do you feel?” she asked.  
Lewis stood up and flapped his wings experimentally before smiling at her. “They feel much better. They’re still a bit achy and I’m a little tired but that’s it,” he answered.  
“Yeah that’s normal; your body had to put in the energy to do the actual healing. You should feel fine in a bit,” she explained.  
“Well I still feel well enough to do this,” Lewis said as he grabbed one of the boulders blocking their path and throwing it away with ease.  
“Wow!” Vivi exclaimed, trying not to show her unease at seeing just how strong Lewis really was.  
With a few more tossed boulders the path was finally clear for them to leave and the two hurriedly ran out of the cave.  
-  
As Vivi and Lewis were getting out of the cave Mystery and Galahad were in hot pursuit of Chloe and Arthur. Thanks to Mystery’s fast flying it wasn’t long until they started to catch up to the young goblin and her captive. However, as they got closer Mystery could smell the still fresh blood coming from Arthur. That would be a problem.  
Without knowing how badly Arthur was hurt he didn’t know how rough he could be with Chloe while she was still holding him. He needed to find a way to get her to land and let go of him.  
He told this to Galahad and without warning the gremlin jumped off the giant bird’s back.  
“Galahad what are you doing?” Mystery gasped.  
Thankfully they were right over Chloe and Galahad landed on her head. Chloe let out a shriek and nearly dropped Arthur. Galahad then climbed to Chloe’s head and covered her eyes with his hands.  
“Hey let go or we’ll crash!” she shouted.  
“Not until you land!” he yelled back.  
“So your giant bird friend can eat me? No thanks,” she spat.  
“He’s not going to eat you! Just let Arthur go and we’ll leave you alone,” he informed.  
“If you mean the elf, not a chance, he killed my best friend!” she growled.  
“No he didn’t, your friend isn’t dead!” he told her.  
At hearing this Arthur, who’d been pretty much a depressed rag doll the whole time shot up and looked wide eyed at the gremlin.  
The news plus Arthur’s sudden movement made Chloe stumble in the air and she was finally forced to land.  
Once on the ground Arthur grabbed Galahad from Chloe’s head with his good arm and looked into his eyes desperately, as he clawed to get the gag off with his other. Not wanting Arthur to hurt himself, Galahad used one of his claws to rip it off.  
“You said Lewis was alive?” he asked.  
Galahad gave a hesitant nod, still not sure if that was a good or bad thing in Arthur’s eyes.  
Tears flowed down from Arthur’s eyes as he collapsed to his needs.  
“He’s alive, oh thank god he’s alive,” Arthur cried.  
“Yes but he and Vivi are trapped back in that cave,” Mystery told him as he landed.  
“Wait Vivi’s here too? But how?” Arthur asked.  
“It’s a long story but we have to go help get her out,” Galahad explained.  
A look of determination crossed Arthur’s features before he went over to Mystery. “Take me to them now,” he demanded.  
Mystery nodded and helped Arthur onto his back, since he couldn’t get up on his own with his hurt arm. He then took off back towards the cave.  
It took a while for everything to sink in for Chloe but once it did she noticed that the others had already flown off. Wanting to make sure that what Galahad and Mystery said was true she quickly took off after them.


	20. Chapter 20

By the time Mystery got back to the cave with Galahad and Arthur, Lewis and Vivi had just gotten out of the cave.  
“You’re alright,” Mystery cheered as he landed.  
As soon as he was on the ground Arthur jumped off him and ran over to Lewis, wrapping his uninjured arm around him in a desperate hug. “You’re ok,” he cried, burying his face into the other’s chest, “Oh thank god, you’re ok.”  
Lewis looked down at Arthur and quickly returned the hug. “Yes, and it’s good to see you’re also ok. I was so worried when we didn’t find you up on the cliff.” Lewis said.   
“Arthur?” Vivi asked, walking over to the two.  
Arthur looked up at hearing the voice he’d been missing for weeks. He turned his head and his eyes locked with blue ones. “Vivi…?” Arthur answered, pulling away from Lewis.  
For a moment the two only stared at each other before Vivi ran up to him and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Arthur was a bit caught off guard but quickly returned it.  
Lewis looked away letting the two have their moment. He also didn’t think he could really handle watching Arthur kiss someone else, even if he was happy that Arthur was back with the one he loved.   
Just then the moment was ruined as Galahad let out another exaggerated “EWWWWWW!”   
The elves broke the kiss and everyone broke into relieved laughter.   
“I was so scared I’d never see you again,” Vivi admitted hugging him close.  
“I know what you mean, but it’s ok now I’m ahh…” Arthur winced as pain shot through his left arm again. He let go of Vivi in order to cradle it to his side.  
“Arthur, your arm!” Lewis exclaimed, rushing over.   
Both Lewis and Vivi gasped at seeing the red that coated most of Arthur’s upper arm.   
“Vivi, you can heal him right? Like you did with my wings?” Lewis asked a little panicked.  
“Normally yes, but after using up most of my energy on the stones trapping us and then healing you I won’t be able to do any spells safely for a while,” Vivi confessed, looking just as panicked.   
“Guys it’s ok, I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much,” Arthur tried to reassure, though it was clear that it was a lie.  
“Not hearing it. Now sit down so I can at least wrap it up,” Vivi demanded and Arthur knew better than to argue. He sat down on the grass as she took off his shirt, revealing the wound underneath. She then tore the already ruined shirt into strips to use as bandages. Neither Vivi nor Lewis let Arthur move until the cut was well bandaged up.  
“Alright, that should hold you until I’m able to cast a healing spell again,” Vivi announced, getting back to her feet.  
Lewis helped Arthur back up, doing his best not to look at Arthur’s bare chest. For someone so lanky Arthur had some nice muscle tone.   
Vivi on the other hand wasn’t hiding at all how much she was enjoying the view, which made Arthur cross his arms in an attempt to cover himself.   
“Oh come on Arthur, you’re going to have to get used to it since we’re getting married,” Vivi teased and Arthur’s whole face went red.  
Trying to steer the conversation away from the awkward topic Lewis spoke up, “Um so now that you guys found each other, now what?” He didn’t really want to hear the answer, he had a feeling he already knew, but it was better than watching Vivi swoon over Arthur when he couldn’t do the same.   
At Lewis’ question Arthur frowned. He knew that since Vivi was there she knew of a way to get him back to the Elf Kingdom but he didn’t just want to leave.  
“Now you all die,” a dark voice hissed from behind them.   
Everyone turned to see the thick green mist poor out of the cave and solidify into a hideous form. The creature was on all fours that ended in massive sharp claws, had a mouth full of jagged teeth and was covered in spikes. They all took a step back, various levels of shock and horror on each of their faces.  
That was when Chloe finally caught up to them and froze at seeing the demon. “What is that!” she shouted, eyes not leaving the monstrosity.  
“Well now isn’t this convenient? I get to kill all you pests at once,” the demon cackled.  
Chloe’s eyes went wide at hearing the voice, “No way… Markus?!”  
“Looks like that ditz has some brains after all,” the demon mocked, “Too bad you didn’t use them and went to the council first when I made you the carrier of that panic spell.”  
“Panic spell…” Lewis repeated, now glaring at the demon, “You’re the one that made it! You’re the reason I panicked at hearing Arthur’s voice! YOU’RE THE REASON I HURT ARTHUR!”  
Fire rocketed from his hands and slammed into the demon but it barely seemed to notice it.  
The demon smirked, “Oh it’s going to be fun killing you.” Then without warning a lightning fast paw shot out towards Lewis and pinned him to the ground. “Now let’s start with putting those holes back in your wings.”  
However, before the demon could do anything something flew through the air and smacked into its eye. Everyone looked to see a very angry looking Chloe with a rock in her hand. “I might not know what is going on but I’m not going to just sit here and watch you kill my friend,” she shouted as she threw the other rock, which bounced off the demon harmlessly.   
The demon glared at her before going back to Lewis. Then once again before it could harm the goblin in any way a white and red blur crashed violently into the demon, knocking it back and away from Lewis. Mystery stood protectively between the demon and the others growling threateningly. The demon glared at Mystery before leaping at him and the two engaged in a violent battle. As they fought the demon managed to pin Mystery under it and darted towards him, mouth wide ready to tear into his neck. Mystery twisted under the demon and swung his tails into its face. This startled the demon enough to let him go and the battle continues. Eventually, Mystery managed to clamp his jaws down on one of the spikes covering the beast’s body and ripped it off. The spike then dissolved into smoke that flowed back into the cave as the demon gave a howl of pain. It too also momentarily became mist before solidifying again. At seeing this Vivi got an idea.  
“Lewis!” she called and he quickly ran over to her.  
“What is it?” he asked.  
“Did the demon hurt you badly when it pinned you?” she questioned.  
“No, why?” Lewis replied.  
“Good, I have a spell that might stop the demon, but I need you and Mystery to get it back inside the cave,” she explained.  
“Got it,” Lewis nodded and then ran off to tell Mystery.  
The two fire wielders battled the demon relentlessly and though it was slow they did start to drive the demon towards the cave.   
“Good, now I need you to rip another spike off so that it turns to mist again,” Vivi called and Mystery did just that.   
It was harder this time since the demon knew what was going on but thanks to Lewis’ distractions Mystery manages to grab another spike and tear it off. As soon as the demon became smoke again Vivi’s hands glowed blue and the mist took on the same blue tint. The mist was then lifted to the ceiling of the cave and suddenly seemed to get absorbed by it. Vivi let her hands drop tiredly and leaned on Arthur for support.  
“Ok, now I really won’t be able to use magic for a while,” she panted.  
“What did you do to it?” Arthur asked.   
“I bound it to the cave,” she explained, “It’ll never be able to leave it again.”  
Everyone let out a sigh of relief but it didn’t last long. Several tremors rocked the ground that seemed to be coming from the cave and into the undead forest.  
“I’ve got a bad feeling about that,” Chloe voiced.  
Mystery sniffed the air and his hackles stood up on end.  
“Everyone, get to shelter now!” he shouted.  
No one argued and all ran for the thorn forest. Just as they had themselves well hidden amongst the thick thorny vines movement came from the undead forest. It was just shadows at first but it soon became clear that it was an entire army of undead creatures and Wood Witch Beasts heading for the castle on the mountain. The group stayed hidden as wave and wave of monsters walked past them.  
“There’s no way the goblins will be able to fight off an army that large without any warning,” Lewis gasped.   
“They’ll be slaughtered,” Chloe agreed.   
Just then Lewis placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, and gave her an intense look.  
“Chloe, you have to warn the council. You’re the only one who can sneak past this army that they’ll listen too,” he told her.  
“But they won’t listen to me,” Chloe protested, “They never have.”   
“They will this time, they have to. Don’t let them ignore you,” Lewis pleaded.  
Chloe looked to Lewis, then to the others and then finally to the massive army before nodding.   
“Alright, but you better explain everything to me when this is over,” she ordered, and then ran off through the forest. If there was one thing undead creatures were, they were slow which gave Chloe all the advantage she needed to get ahead of them.  
“Even with her warning the goblins won’t be able to fend off that army forever,” Mystery stated, “We need to stop it at its sores.”   
They all looked in the direction the army had come from, the undead forest.


	21. Chapter 21

The Undead Forest was like one would expect it to be; dark, creepy, and the smell of death and decay in the air. The grown was muddy and slimy which was horrid to walk through but it also showed the footprints of the army and where it had come from. Lewis lit a flame to allow them to see where they were going but made sure not to let it get too bright. The army was huge but they knew better than to think all the undead creatures in the forest had left with it. It was best to make their presence known as little as possible.   
As they walked the trees around them became darker and more gnarled giving off an even more menacing feel to the forest. There was no other light then what was coming from Lewis’ fire and the forest was unnaturally quiet aside from the squelch of their footsteps on the soggy ground. That was until another sound came from behind them.  
It was a wet, sucking sound that made their skin crawl, and it was coming from behind them. Lewis turned his flame in the direction of the sound and Arthur nearly shrieked in horror at the sight.   
A sickly green, skeletal hand, with bits of ripped flesh still clinging to the bone, was slowly emerging from the mucky ground.  
“What is that?!” Arthur squeaked.  
“I don’t want to find out,” Lewis answered.  
“Agreed, run!” Vivi exclaimed and they all darted away from the arm.  
This was easier said than done as the slimy earth clung to their feet, slowing them down. The squelching sounds of the hand coming out of the ground increased and started to sound all around them. Eventually Mystery grabbed the others and placed them on his back, allowing them to go faster.   
This didn’t help any as it appeared there were far more of those corpse-like things coming out of the ground than thought. Sickly green faces peered out from between the trees as they passed, sunken in eyes following their every move. More and more of the rotting creatures seemed to appear among the trees the farther into the forest they went and more disturbingly they seemed to be getting closer.  
“I really don’t like this,” Lewis commented, having to swipe at a skeletal hand that was coming far to close.   
Just then there was a yelp and Arthur wasn’t on Mystery anymore. The fox slid to a stop and turned to see a shock of yellow being pulled into a sea of green before disappearing.   
Without thinking Vivi jumped off Mystery’s back and ran towards the horde of corpses. She sent a blast spell at a mass and several exploded on the spot, but there were still hundreds with their attention now on her.  
“Vivi!” Lewis called and leaped off Mystery’s back, throwing a fire ball at a corpse that was about to grab her.  
Then something strange happened. Right as Lewis threw the fire ball Vivi turned around and shot a blast spell at the corpse as well. It then instantly was disintegrated in a massive inferno as the other corpses retreated away from it. Vivi and Lewis locked eyes and then turned to the horde again. It wasn’t long before every corpse had either fled or was incinerated, but unfortunately Arthur was also gone.  
-  
Arthur curled himself into a small ball as he felt the cold and bony hands pull him farther and farther away from the others. Then suddenly everything stopped. There were no more dead hands tugging at him and no more sickly moans filling his ears. Everything was still and silent.  
After a while of nothing happening, Arthur finally opened his eyes to find nothing. Everything was black in all directions. He was completely alone and utterly lost.   
He curled himself into a ball again, not knowing what to do. He had no idea what direction the others were and if he tried to find them he could just end up even more lost. Or if he called for help the corpses could find him again, or possibly something worse.   
Just then something appeared in his vision and he looked to see what it was. A small glowing pink orb bobbed in front of him and he jumped back. He wasn’t about to trust anything in this forest. The little orb bobbed back a bit and another one appeared behind it. Then another appeared behind that one and so on until there appeared a path deeper into the forest.  
Of course Arthur was wary. He’d just been dragged through a mass of zombies, there was no way he was following whatever those things were. It was most likely a trap of some kind. However, the orbs seemed to realize this and began to crowd around him.  
“Hey, get away from me!” Arthur shouted and backed away from them.  
Still they didn’t stop. In an attempt to get away from them he started running in the opposite direction. Every time he saw one he darted away from it, not realizing they had begun to herd him back the way they were initially leading.  
He didn’t stop until he tripped over a large root that jutted out in front of him. He fell with a splat on the soggy ground and looked up to see the little orbs that had been chasing him hovering around a massive tree.  
Arthur never thought that pink light could make anything look terrifying but as his eyes landed on the tree a sense of dread washed through him. The orbs didn’t illuminate the whole tree, casting the majority of it in inky black shadow. The parts he could see were also too dark to make out clearly, giving them a much more ominous feel. There were some kind of creatures in the branches that made unsettling scraping noises when they moved, and on the trunk something oozed down the bark that seemed to writhe in sporadic pulses.  
Not wanting any part of that, Arthur quickly got to his feet to start running again when a horrid cracking sound came from behind him. He turned to see a large split in the tree slowly widening and revealing nothing but the deepest of blacks on the other side. Arthur’s blood ran cold and he started to run but he didn’t get very far. Thick, black, rope like vines shot out of the crack and wrapped tightly around him and no matter how he struggled they stayed firm. Then agonizingly slow the vines started to pull him back towards the tree.  
Arthur tried to get free but it was no use. One wrapped around his bad shoulder and he screamed in pain before, with one last jerk, he fell into the crack and it snapped shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They were just supposed to find the tree. Where did all these zombies and getting separated again come from?


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok now we're getting really close to the climax. This is going to be fun.

“No no no. This can’t be happening. I just got him back,” Vivi panicked, trying desperately to see anything in the pitch black between the trees.  
Lewis placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her to look at him. “Calm down, we’ll find him.”  
Something about his voice helped and Vivi managed to calm down. “Right we’ll find him, wait of course we’ll find him I still have the soulmate stone,” she remembered, pulling the heart shaped stone out of her pocket. It glowed a brilliant yellow, almost blinding in the dark of the forest.  
“He’s that way,” Vivi announced, pointing in the direction the stone told her.  
Mystery nodded and after Vivi and Lewis got back on his back he started running in the indicated direction.  
As Mystery ran he found he had to slow down to avoid running into the denser trees. Some of them were so close together than he had to take a completely different direction to get around. This made them increasingly worried as it meant they weren’t getting closer to Arthur.  
Just then Vivi let out a gasp and Mystery looked to her in worry. “What’s wrong?” he asked.  
“The soulmate stone, it’s getting dimmer. I don’t know what that means but I don’t think it’s good,” Vivi told him.  
“Can you still tell me which way to go?” Mystery asked.  
Vivi hesitated for a second before nodding. “Yes, I can still feel the pull. That way,” she pointed and Mystery took off again.   
For a short while longer Vivi managed to navigate them through the dark forest without much trouble but slowly her directions became less sure and more hesitant.  
“What’s wrong?” Lewis asked.  
“The pull is getting weaker, I’m having difficulty knowing which way to go,” Vivi answered.  
Lewis frowned, that really didn’t sound good. He looked to the soulmate stone and got an idea. He didn’t know much about magic other than the little bit of fire magic he was able to do but he knew enough about the stone to know how it worked. He just hoped that Vivi wouldn’t be too mad at him for this.  
Slowly he placed a hand on the stone next to Vivi’s. The stone briefly flared back up before dimming again. However, the pull was much stronger and easier to follow.   
Vivi looked up at Lewis with an expression he couldn’t read in the dim light, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she turned back to Mystery and continued her directions.   
It wasn’t long after that they finally came to the large tree with the floating pink orbs around it. The same feeling of dread it had given Arthur washed over them and they all shuttered. Galahad whimpered and buried himself deeper in Mystery’s fur as if to shield himself from the feeling.  
“What is that?” Lewis whispered, not able to make his voice any louder.   
“That is Shiro Mori,” Mystery answered.  
“You mean the whole tree?” Vivi asked.  
Mystery nodded. “And what’s ever scraping around in the branches,” he added.  
Vivi’s blood ran cold. Dealing with just the branch of the wood witch was horrid she really didn’t like what Mystery was implying what she was actually like. “We need to find Arthur fast,” she said.  
“Easier said than done, if he ended up here then he’s most likely inside,” Mystery explained.  
“Wait, inside!” Vivi repeated, “Like inside the tree?”  
“How is that possible?” Lewis asked.  
Just then there was a loud crack and everyone looked to the tree as it split open. It was only thanks to Mystery’s fast reflexes that the thick black vines that shot out of the crack didn’t grab them. He shot a fire ball at the vines and the ones that were hit quickly caught fire and burnt down. Unfortunately, there were still plenty more that reached for them. Lewis and Vivi aided Mystery in fending off the vines but their attacks weren’t as effective.   
Just then Lewis spotted something in the crack of the tree, something pail with a shock of bright yellow.  
“Arthur!” Lewis cried, leaping off Mystery’s back and flying over to the tree.  
The figure was indeed Arthur and he looked horrible. He was passed out dark bruising around his neck and torso and was stuck in the tree by a thick black substance that only left his head, chest and right arm exposed. Lewis tried to pull Arthur out and while his legs came free his left arm did not. Lewis continued to try and pull him free but that only managed to get a pained whimper from the elf.  
Desperate, Lewis tried to wipe away the oily sap to see what Arthur was stuck on and he gasped. From the shoulder down Arthur’s arm wasn’t flesh but wood, with the same black bark the trees in the forest had.   
“No,” Lewis gasped, unable to think at seeing the arm.  
“What’s going on?” Vivi yelled as she blasted another vine away.  
“Arthur, his arm…” Lewis couldn’t bring himself to say it.  
Mystery leaped over to the tree and he and Vivi looked up. Vivi let out a gasp as Mystery growled.   
“Lewis, help Vivi fend off the vines I’ll help Arthur,” Mystery ordered and Lewis complied.   
The goblin and elf fought off the vines as Mystery jumped up to where Arthur was.  
“I’m sorry about this, Arthur,” Mystery apologized.  
From their position on the ground, Lewis and Vivi heard a horrible ripping sound, followed by an agonized scream of pain. They looked up to see Arthur hanging from Mystery’s mouth, minus one arm. They both gave cries at the sight, and unfortunately that distraction was what the vines needed. Vivi and Lewis were slammed back into the tree, trapping them. Mystery was unable to help them since he’d drop Arthur in the process. He jumped to the ground and laid Arthur down before trying to save the others.   
However, before he could something shot from the branches and struck him in the side, sending him flying. Mystery looked to see it was a large hand like claw that reached out for him. Mystery dodged but soon more fell from the branches and tried to grab him.  
There was then a yelp from behind him and he turned to see Vivi and Lewis being lifted up by one of the claws. He leaped for them but one of the claws grabbed his tails and he let out a howl of pain. He then saw another claw grab Arthur and they were all yanked into the thick canopy of the tree.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this took forever. Sorry for the wait guys kinda rewrote this chapter 5 times to get it to work out right. Hope it was worth the wait. Climax time!

Arthur was the first to wake up and become aware of their surroundings. The first thing he noticed was how much pain he was in. The second thing he noticed was a horrible smell coming from the middle of the room. He looked around to see they were in what looked to be a massive hollow tree with black vines hanging from the walls. Against the far wall was a large glowing pink orb, much like the ones that had led him to the large tree, which appeared to be wrapped in a thick root. In the center of the room was a large whole in the floor filled with a bubbling thick liquid that made his stomach lurch just looking at it. He looked to his right to see that the others were lying on the floor next to him, still unconscious.   
Panic started to well up until he noticed Mystery start to move. It looked like he was fighting to wake up as if something was forcing him asleep. Finally a red eye opened and a dark growl rose from his throat. He attempted to stand but even rising to one foot appeared to be a godlike struggle. Once all four feet were under him he glared murderously around the room.  
His eyes then landed on the glowing orb and his eyes narrowed.   
Mystery then looked to the passed out forms of Lewis and Vivi then to Arthur.   
“We need to get out of here,” Mystery relayed urgently.   
Arthur didn’t argue and struggled to get to his feet. Something felt wrong but his head was too fuzzy to figure it out what it was.   
Mystery turned to help Arthur up and Arthur tried to grab onto the fox with both hands but for some reason only his right hand took a hold on him. He was just starting to break through the fuzz in his brain when a chilling laugh echoed through the tree.   
The wall that was across from them started to warp and change until a woman in white robes, wood like skin, and a tree growing from her head stepped out. She smiled revealing thorn like teeth and looked over the group.   
“Now did you really think it would be that easy to leave?” The woman laughed again and Arthur felt his blood run cold.   
Mystery growled and stood protectively between the woman and the two still forms on the floor, using one of his tails to push Arthur behind him.  
“Shiro. You will not touch them,” Mystery stated.  
“Oh of course I won’t,” Shiro replied, “I won’t have to.”   
The thick black vines that were hanging from the walls suddenly flew down and grabbed ahold of Mystery, preventing him from moving an inch. The floor beneath them then started to tilt causing Lewis and Vivi to slide towards the bubbling liquid in the middle of the floor. Thinking fast Arthur ran over to Vivi and grabbed her before she could fall in, however, when he reached out for Lewis nothing happened. Confused Arthur looked to his left arm only to fine nothing there. His eyes widened and his breathing became shallow, his eyes glued to the spot his arm should have been.   
He was then broken out of the shock from a grown to his right and the feeling of something moving in his arm. Oh right he was holding Vivi. He turned to her concerned, before remembering Lewis.  
“Ow, what happened,” Vivi complained.  
“No time, I need you to cast a spell to stop Lewis from falling!” Arthur shouted.  
“Wha…?” Vivi blinked and her eyes landed on Lewis. Her eyes shot open and she shot out her arm. A blue light encased the goblin and he stopped sliding just before he was about to fall in. Lewis’ eyes then opened and looked around at what was going on.   
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief only to gasp in panic when his own perch on the floor started to slip and he and Vivi started to fall.   
Their cries of fear seemed to snap Lewis out of his groggy state of mind and he looked to see what was happening. Without hesitation he leaped up, grabbed both of them and flew into the air away from the boiling liquid.   
An angry shriek came from the other side of the room and everyone looked to Shiro. The wood witch was glaring daggers at the group.  
“Why must you always mess up all my plans to kill you?” she growled as more black vines sprung from the wall and entangled them. “If things had just gone as they were supposed to only the elf magician would have died.”  
“I’m a mage!” Vivi shouted.  
Normally Arthur would have told her this wasn’t the time for that but something moved in the corner of his eye and he was distracted. The movement happened to be Galahad stumbling around the boiling pit to the other side of the room. It appeared he had a goal in mind but Arthur couldn’t tell what he was doing. Realizing his staring would alert Shiro to Galahad he quickly looked back to the Wood Witch.  
“What do you mean Vivi would die?” Lewis demanded, a slight tone of protectiveness in his voice.  
Shiro’s glare softened and her creepy smile returned. “Well I suppose since that plan is ruined anyway I might as well tell you. I made a deal with that demon you’re all familiar with. It was supposed to sneak into the elf castle and transport the elf magician…”  
“Mage!” Vivi corrected.  
Shiro ignored her and continued, “I then created a branch to retrieve her the next day, which would have given the goblins plenty of time to see her and cause a panic. I would have then transformed her into a plant that would have given me the power I needed to counter the mist of the mind. Of course, princey here had to be a hero and get transported instead. Not a huge deal since he’d work up just as much of a panic, I just had to send my branch somewhere different than expected. In fact it seemed to be working out even better this way since miss magician here ended up pretty close to my old dwelling, which was much easier to bring her to. Of course that’s what was supposed to happen. Not only did she happen to have one of my liberated beasts with her, goody two shoes goblin thought it’d be a good idea to keep a trespassing elf a secret. So I end up with no extra power and no panicking goblins.”  
Arthur frowned as he listened. Something didn’t seem right about this, he could understand what Shiro was trying to do but he couldn’t understand why. “How does getting rid of the mist and making goblins panic benefit you?”  
Shiro smirked as her eyes focused on Arthur, making him cringe. “Smart boy. What I’d get out of it is war, a war between the Elves and Goblins that would cripple both kingdoms and allow my own army to fully decimate them. So much soul power just for the taking. Enough to resurrect the wood witch coven that both kingdoms wiped out so long ago.”  
“Both kingdoms? But that would mean that…” Vivi realized, looking to Mystery.  
“Yes, those wizards I told you about were both elves and goblins. The two races were once quite close before they were isolated,” Mystery answered, his eyes were still angrily fixed on Shiro.  
“Enough stalling,” Shiro interrupted and the black vines holding the three moved to dangle them over the pit of boiling liquid. “I will still have my power. I’ll just have to have my own army slaughter the kingdoms.”  
The vines started to loosen but before they were dropped a loud shattering crash echoed through the room. Everyone looked to see the root that had been holding the glowing sphere was broken and the sphere was smashed on the ground. A pink mist floated from where the orb had smashed and over to the boiling liquid until it was covered. When the mist disapated the liquid vanished along with it.  
Shiro shrieked in anger as her eyes locked onto Galahad. A vine shot towards him and flung the small body against the far wall. A crack loud enough for everyone to hear sounded and Galahad’s eyes closed before he fell limply to the ground. Everyone gasped as Shiro smiled.  
“Well at least that’s one nuisance out of the way.” She then frowned. “Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll just have to kill you now.”  
Nobody was listening to her; their eyes were all on the unmoving form of the gremlin. Just then Mystery let out a painful howl and a massive ball of fire erupted around him, incinerating the vines holding him. He fell to the slanted floor and dug his claws into the wood to stop him from sliding. Not losing any momentum he sprang forward, across the pit slicing the vines that held the other three as he did so. Lewis, Vivi and Arthur landed safely in the now empty pit as Mystery slammed into Shiro Mori, teeth bared and fire streaming along his tails. A paw was raised ready to plunge four razor sharp claws into her.   
Shiro didn’t even flinch and continued to smile, shooting Mystery a smug look. The claws had barely moved towards her when a vine wrapped around it and flung Mystery off of her.   
“Fool, you could barely handle a branch how do you expect to defeat the true me?” Shiro cackled as she sank into the ground and reappeared behind him, “Every inch of this tree is a part of me! How can you fight when the very surroundings are against you?”  
To prove her point multiple spikes emerged from the ground, one even scratching Mysteries side. He looked around and growled; he was efficiently trapped. There was no way for him to move without cutting himself on the spikes. Still this didn’t discourage him. Using his strength there was a loud crack as he snapped some of the spikes allowing him to turn and face Shiro. He shot a fire ball at her but all she did was sink back into the ground and reappeared behind him again.   
“That’s it, I’m ending this now,” she stated and a pair of jagged scissors appeared in her hand, “Time to sever you’re magic like I should have in the first place.”  
An agonizing cry echoed through the hollow tree and Vivi gasped, “We have to help Mystery!”  
“But how? Even if we got out of this pit everywhere else is covered in giant thorns,” Arthur pointed out.   
Vivi frowned, obviously not sure how to answer when a loud squelching sound came from behind them. They turned to see a puddle of black oily liquid dripping onto the ground. Looking up they saw that the vines that had been holding them were oozing the same black substance from where they had been cut. Vivi’s eyes widen and she turned to Lewis quickly.  
“I’ve seen this stuff before, it’s extremely flammable,” she explained.  
Lewis nodded and flew up to reach the vines. Just as he grabbed a vine and formed a fire ball Shiro saw what he was doing. She sent more vines after him, these ones ending in pointed spikes. Lewis panicked at the sight and dropped the fire he’d been holding. He managed to dodge out of the way but the ball of fire he created landed in the pit and onto the sludge that had fallen in there. It instantly caught fire and started to spread.   
Vivi and Arthur scrambled back but their backs hit the far wall of the pit. They looked around franticly but there was nowhere to go. Vivi attempted an extinguish spell but the fire had already gotten too big to stop with one spell and there was still more of the oily liquid falling from the severed vines and catching on fire.   
Despite it appear that all her enemies were trapped and near death Shiro did not appear pleased. The fire had already reached the wall opposite of Arthur and Vivi and was making its way out of the pit. Scorch marks started to appear on her torso and she hissed in pain.   
Mystery smirked as he turned to her. “Apparently ‘this tree is me’ has some draw backs,” he mocked.  
Shiro returned the smirk with a blank glare. “Yes, well it appears I’ll have to plant myself somewhere else. Too bad your friends can’t do the same.” The tree surrounding them appeared to slowly die and the burn on Shior’s side disappeared. As the life drained from the tree around them, more of the black liquid leaked from opening cracks in the wood, spreading the fire faster.   
The fire was drawing closer to Vivi and Arthur every second and they didn’t have much more time. Arthur then blurted out the only solution they had. “Get on my shoulders!”   
“What?” Vivi faltered, still staring at the rapidly growing flames.  
“Get on my shoulders. Shiro’s distracted you can use a blast spell to clear away the thorns for us to get out of this pit!” Arthur repeated desperately.  
“Oh right,” Vivi confirmed and scrambled onto Arthur’s shoulders. It wasn’t easy as he only had one hand to help her up, but somehow they managed it before the fire reached them. Vivi blasted away the now decaying and brittle thorns with ease and haled herself out of the pit.  
She then turned and reached a hand down to Arthur. “Give me your hand,” she called.  
Arthur didn’t argue and grabbed ahold of the out stretched hand. Vivi pulled and slowly dragged Arthur out of the pit just as raging inferno reached where he’d been standing no more than ten seconds earlier.  
“We have to keep moving, the fire will reach us soon,” Arthur panted.  
Vivi nodded and cleared away more spikes. She didn’t stop until they reached the wall of the hollow tree.   
“Now where do we go?” Vivi questioned.  
Arthur looked around but instead of finding a way out his eyes landed on something small and orange.   
“Galahad,” he gasped and scooped the gremlin into his hands. A relieved smile then spread over his face. “He’s breathing, he’s alive.”  
“Not for long if we don’t get out of here,” Vivi countered pointing to the fire coming towards them.  
“Right, can you blast a hole in the wall?” Arthur asked.   
“I don’t know, I’m pretty tired and I don’t know how thick these walls are,” Vivi confessed, “We need help.”  
As if on cue Lewis landed right next to them. “Are you alright, the vines chasing me stopped and I saw the whole place was on fire,” he exclaimed.  
“We’re fine but we need to get out of here if we’re going to stay that way,” Vivi told him.  
“Good point, how do we get out?” Lewis asked.  
“We don’t know…” She was cut off by a horrible mix of roaring and shrieking.  
They looked in the direction and saw Mystery had broken free of the spikes once they started dying and grabbed Shiro just as she looked to be sinking into the wood to escape. In retaliation Shiro raked her scissors down the side of Mystery’s face.   
Lewis sprang forward to help, shooting Shiro in the side with his fire. Shiro screeched and dropped her scissors. Vivi then acted and grabbed the scissors. She then turned to the trapped and wounded Shiro and raised the scissors but before she could do anything Shiro leaped out of the ground and tore her arm away from Mystery. There was a horrible crack as the wood like arm was snapped in between Mystery’s teeth. Shiro stumbled away but her arm had already started healing itself along with the burn Lewis gave her.  
“Fools, there is no way out for you. You will all burn!” She snarled as she started to sink into the ground again. She was stopped when something black and wet hit her in the side. It was the same substance that was catching fire all around them and it had come from Arthur, standing next to one of the leaking cracks and his hand dripping with the stuff.  
“Not before you burn first. Fire now!” Arthur shouted.   
Mystery was the first to act and let a stream of flame rain down on Shiro from his mouth. The oily liquid ignited instantly and Shiro was forced back out of the ground from the pain. Vivi then made her move and swiftly lunged forward with the scissors to shear the small tree growing out of Shiro’s head like she did with the branch.  
However, Shiro didn’t collapse and rot away like the branch did. Instead Shiro just shoved her away and laughed.  
“You really thought you could kill me like a simple branch?” she cackled, “As long as one piece of me survives to escape I can just regrow and start all over again.”  
“Well then it’s a good thing nothing of you is going to survive,” Mystery clamed appearing behind her. He then clamped his jaws down on her head, once again causing the sickly cracking sound and flung her into the air. Shiro flew through the air and almost appeared to stop in mid air before plummeting down right in the center of the inferno that had now consumed most of the tree. A deathly agonizing cry echoed around them as a massive jet of flame erupted from where Shiro fell.   
This brought their current predicament into focus. During their fight with Shiro Mori the fire had spread to all parts for the tree other than where they were standing and it was coming closer every second.  
“We have to get out of here,” Arthur exclaimed.   
“How? There’s no way out!” Vivi shouted.  
Mystery then crouched down and once again transformed into his giant bird form. “Everybody on, the only way out is up!”   
No one argued with him and all climbed on. Mystery took off just as the fire reached the last part of the tree. The heat from the flames helped lift them up but Mystery was drained from Shiro’s attacks and it was slow going. Lewis tried to help by flying on his own but Mystery still only managed to stay in the air long enough for them to reach the top of the tree.   
It appeared the tree had been hollow all the way through and once at the top they were able to fly through the branches and fully escape the hellish burning tree. Once out of the tree, however, Mystery quickly lost altitude and only just managed to stop a crash landing. Everyone had gotten off Mystery and turned just in time to see him collapse and transform back into his fox form, five red stained tails splayed out behind him.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I got stuck on so many parts in this chapter. It just didn't want to be written.

“Mystery! What’s wrong?” Vivi asked franticly.  
Mystery didn’t answer and only looked towards his five tails. Vivi looked confused before her eyes widened in realization. Only five tails, but Mystery was supposed to have six.   
“Shiro… she…” Mystery grunted, “My tails are my connection to magic… cutting one off severs that connection and drains me.”  
“Will you be ok?” Lewis asked.  
Mystery didn’t answer for a while as he just stared at his tails. “I’ll live,” he finally answered, “but my powers will be much weaker. I just need some time to rest.”  
The rest of the group looked around at the dark forest only illuminated by the raging fire behind them.   
“Well resting here isn’t an option,” Lewis concluded.   
“Do you think you can walk long enough to get out of here?” Vivi asked.  
Mystery tried to get up but quickly fell back to the wet earth. “I don’t think so, but I can change into something small enough to carry.”  
“Ok, we’ll carry you out of the forest so you can rest,” Vivi said.  
Mystery nodded and slowly his form began to shrink until he was about a tenth of his original size. His tails disappeared leaving only a small stumpy one and his snout became rounder. Soon Mystery was no longer a giant fox but a small dog. Once the transformation was complete Mystery collapsed back on the ground in exhaustion. Vivi picked him up and then looked around.  
“Um does anyone know how to get out of here?”  
The boys gave startled looks which gave her the answer.  
“Great.”  
Just then there was a loud rumbling sound from behind them. Quickly they turned to see hordes of monsters running as if in a panic through the trees. None seemed to even take notice of the group and instead seemed to give them and the burning tree behind them as wide a birth as possible without being trampled by each other. After about a minute of monsters running past them the forest was silent once again.  
“Well I think we know which way to go now,” Arthur said, breaking the silence.  
Everyone just gave a nod and started in the direction the undead creatures had come from.   
Getting out of the forest was as grueling as going into it. The soggy ground clung to their feet and their exhaustion from their fight wasn’t helping them free themselves from it. Arthur had the worst of it, with his missing arm throwing him off balance and the horrible pain he was feeling now that the adrenalin had worn off. Lewis did his best to keep Arthur upright but there was only so much he could do when he could barely keep himself up.  
Still they knew they couldn’t stop until they were out, knowing that they weren’t safe there even if all the monsters had fled. This proved to be true as a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in front of them and they stopped. The eyes were soon joined by another pair and another until they were surrounded by a ring of glowing eyes.   
Lewis growled and pulled the others closer to him. Even if he was as tired as they were he was still the strongest physically and would have the best chance of fighting off whatever those eyes belonged to. The eyes grew nearer and they all tensed.  
However, once the eyes grew close enough for the rest of the body to be made out everyone dropped their tense postures, adopting a more confused look. The eyes belonged to dozens of giant multi tailed foxes, like Mystery, all in varying shades of red.   
The largest one with 9 tails came up to the group and spoke in a soft womanly voice. “You’re the ones who freed us from the Wood Witch’s power are you not?”   
“Um we set her tree on fire if that’s what you’re talking about,” Arthur answered.   
“Then we are in your debt, you have saved us from years of slavery.”  
“Wait, you used to be Wood Witch beasts,” Vivi said, eyes wide in realization.  
“Yes, burning her life tree has removed her dark influence over us.”  
“We’re glad we helped free you, but we really can’t stay to talk. We have injured and it’s not safe to rest here,” Lewis cut in.  
“Oh dear, in that case we will gladly escort you safely out of the forest.”  
Three of the largest foxes came forward and bent down to allow each of the still somewhat standing members of the group to climb on. Arthur needed some assistance but eventually everyone was situated and the foxes carried them to the edge of the forest.   
However, what greeted them when they exited the trees was not what they had expected. They may have seen the monsters retreating back into the forest but the signs of battle were clear. Thankfully most of the soldiers appeared to have returned to the castle to announce their victory and get the injured medical help. Only one person remained on the battlefield.  
Chloe called out to them and ran up to the fox carrying Lewis. “Lewis! Are you ok?”  
Lewis tiredly smiled down at Chloe. “I’m fine just very tired. So is Vivi, but the others…” He glanced over to the other members of the group.  
Chloe nodded and went to help Arthur down as Lewis got down and went to help Vivi. Chloe then brought them to an empty tent she’d set up. Lewis thanked her and the injured members where laid down on a large mat.   
“Well I knew you weren’t going to be in great shape after coming out of the Undead Forest, if you... never mind. Anyway I knew that you’d need medical attention and that getting at the castle wasn’t really going to happen.” She pulled out a box full of medical supplies before giving Lewis a tired look. “Now are you going to give me an explanation about what’s going on, preferably one that justifies not going directly to the council with these two?” She pointed to Vivi and Arthur, not braking eye contact with Lewis, “Because, I’ve kept quiet about it up until now only because demons and undead armies were the more immediate threat.”  
Vivi opened her mouth but Lewis held up his hand to stop her. “No it’s best if I explain. No offence but you and Arthur should probably keep quiet for now.”  
Vivi still gave an offended look and was about to object when something grabbed her hand. She looked down to see Arthur holding her hand and smiling pleadingly at her. She pouted a little but remained quiet as Lewis told Chloe what happened, starting with finding Arthur outside the Thorn Forest and ending with being escorted out of the Undead Forest by the group of freed Wood Witch beasts.   
For a moment Chloe just stared at Lewis before putting her head in her hands. “Oh man I think I might regret asking for an explanation now. Lewis what did you get yourself into?”  
“Nothing that hasn’t already past.”  
“Except you’re still stuck with two elves you still need to hide since it’s clear that one isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” She pointed a finger at Arthur.  
“His name’s Arthur, but you’re right. I don’t know how Vivi, Mystery, and Galahad got here but I doubt it was easy and I don’t think any of them are in the condition to go back.” He glanced to Vivi who gave an affirming nod before looking worriedly down at Arthur.  
“Well I’ve got to get back to the castle soon. After all if the person who warned everyone about the invading army doesn’t show up to celebrate the victory it’ll be kind of suspicious.”   
“Alright, see you later I guess.”  
Chloe left the tent leaving the group alone. Vivi went to work helping Arthur, Mystery and Galahad with their injuries. However, it was soon clear there wasn’t much she could do for them without having the energy to cast a healing spell. Her eyes stayed fixed on what was left of Arthur’s left arm, seemingly unable to look away. It was scarred and red, as if burned, and the end was an odd texture and color as if transitioning to wood. It made her feel a bit sick to think what would have happened if Mystery hadn’t acted in time.  
Arthur took her hand and smiled reassuringly up at her. “Hey I’m ok, don’t worry. Come on, it’s late and we’ve been through a lot. We all need some rest.”  
Vivi sighed and nodded before lying down next to him. Lewis couldn’t help but smile at seeing the two cuddle. He had to admit it was quite adorable seeing them like that. He soon lied down himself to sleep but found it difficult to do so without Arthur to hold as he did so.  
Arthur was having a similar problem. While it was wonderful finally being able to snuggle up to Vivi again after so long, he couldn’t help but notice how cold his back was. He was able to ignore it for the most part but as soon as he was about to dose off his eyes landed on Lewis and his heart ached.   
“Hey Vivi?”  
“Hmm?”  
“Um…would it be ok if Lewis slept on the mat with us?”  
Vivi frowned in confusion before looking back at Lewis and her face softened. She turned back to Arthur and smiled. “Sure, he can sleep with us.”  
Arthur then motioned for Lewis to come over and he did, making sure to be careful when stepping over them and curling up next to Arthur. It wasn’t long before the three fell asleep snuggled up together with Mystery and Galahad at their feet.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got over my writers block! But at least it's almost done. Just one or two chapters left I think.

Vivi opened her eyes, waking from the best sleep she’d had in a long time. Her eyes landed on Arthur’s sleeping form in front of her and a rush of happiness filled her, it was wonderful sleeping with him in her arms again. Still there was something else that made her feel even better. She felt safe and protected; something she never thought she’d feel so content with. After all she wasn’t one to need protection, but this didn’t feel smothering it was actually really nice and warm. She looked around blurrily and noticed something thin and scaly wrapped around her and Arthur. Following to where it originated her eyes landed on Lewis, suddenly realizing what was around them were his wings. Lewis was cuddling them with his wings in his sleep. That was, actually really cute and she couldn’t help the smile that spread over her face at that.  
It wasn’t long after the others started to wake up and Lewis realized what he’d done. Arthur and Vivi tried to stop his embarrassed apologies but it wasn’t until Vivi admitted to liking it did he calm down.   
“So what do we do now?”  
“Well right now we have breakfast.”  
Vivi and Mystery quickly perked up at the word breakfast. Lewis chuckled and started looking through the bags of food Chloe left for them. With what he found mixed with a bit of his fire it wasn’t long until there were four bowls and one tea cup of steaming hot oatmeal with honey handed out to the group.   
As they ate Vivi asked Arthur, Mystery and Galahad how they were feeling and was glad to hear they were feeling much better. Still she couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Arthur’s missing arm. Her eyes were quickly diverted but not fast enough for Arthur not to notice. He placed his spoon down and reached up to the stump of where his arm used to be.   
Vivi took ahold of Arthur’s hand in one of hers and turned his face towards hers with the other. “When we get back to the Elf Kingdom, I promise I’ll do everything I can to find a way to fix that.”  
Arthur squeezed her hand back. “It’s ok, I’m just glad my arm is all I lost, but how are we going to get back to the Elf Kingdom? It took you over a month to get here and I don’t know how well I can travel right now.”  
“Well the way back shouldn’t take that long but you’re right it’s not exactly easy to get back.”  
Lewis took the empty bowls and set them aside. “If only that tunnel was real. It’d be much easier for you to get back that way.”  
Suddenly Vivi’s eyes lit up. “Maybe it can be.” She pulled the map out of her pocket and laid it out in front of them. “The tunnel entrance that set up to be a trap might not have been real but the rest of the map is, so that means the rest of the tunnel is real too.”  
“Wait, are you saying…?”  
“Yes, look here this is where the tunnel really is. It doesn’t actually have an entrance in the Goblin Realm but if we just dig a hole right here.” She pointed to a part of the thorn forest. “We should be able to just drop right in.”  
“Well then what are we waiting for?” Arthur seemed to be more energized at the prospect of being able to return to the Elf Kingdom now.   
Lewis looked over the map and nodded in agreement with the plan. “We’re going to need tools to dig. I’ll go to the castle and get some.”  
“No need.” Mystery got up from the mat and stretched. “Now that I’ve rested I’m feeling much better. I’ll be able to dig that hole much faster than you would with shovels, especially if the other former beasts that stayed nearby are willing to help.”  
“Oh, ok then.”   
Vivi got to her feet pulling Arthur up with her. “Let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.”  
-  
Thanks to the detail of the map and Lewis’ constant exploration of the thorn forest the found the spot with little effort. They also met up with six other former beasts that agreed to help Mystery dig. They were smaller with only two tails each and were much more playful and energetic than Mystery but were fast diggers and it wasn’t long until they’d dug deep enough for the hole to give way to the tunnel.   
Lewis held his arm out to prevent anyone from falling in. “That’s a bit of a drop, be careful.”  
Vivi knelt down next to the whole and looked into it, a wide, relieved smile on her face. “I almost can’t believe it’s actually real. All of this is finally going to be over.” She got up and turned her grin to the rest of the group. “Unfortunately, it’s pretty dark down there and will still be a long journey back to the Elf Kingdom. We’re going to need to stock up on supplies before we go.”  
Lewis opened his mouth to say something but Vivi was already dragging him and Arthur back towards the tent.  
-  
Back at the tent Lewis started packing up the food, glad to see that Chloe had stock piled more than just the normal rations in an army recovery tent. He tried to focus on how much they’d need for the trip only to remind himself that he wasn’t going to be with them. It hurt to think about but he knew once everything was packed and ready to go he most likely would never see any of them again.   
He was going to miss them terribly. Not just Arthur as he’d grown close to Vivi and he’d even become fond of Mystery and Galahad as well. With all of them gone he’d be alone again. Sure he’d have Chloe but she had a job and other friends that took up most of her time. He’d just have to go back to wondering the thorn forest and staying out of people’s way. He hadn’t minded it before but now it felt suffocatingly lonely.  
“Hey are you done yet?” Lewis looked up to see Vivi standing next to him and looking down into the bag. “We’re going to need more than that. It’s going to be a long trip back.”  
“Oh uh sure.” Lewis did his best to snap out of his sad thoughts and grabbed more food.  
Once everything was backed up they headed back to the hole where Mystery and the other beasts were.   
Lewis placed the bag of food down and looked to Vivi and Arthur. It was hard to look either of the in the eye despite wanting to. “I guess this is good bye then.”  
Arthur tensed eyes widening in realization and Vivi’s smile plummeted. Her eyes filled with confusion before the same realization came.  
“Oh I’m so stupid. I can’t believe I didn’t realize…” She looked to both Lewis and Arthur.  
“It’s ok, I knew this was going to happen eventually. You and Arthur need to go home. I’ll miss you but I’ll be fine.”  
Vivi’s frown deepened before it was replaced by a determined look. “It’s not a permanent good bye, we’ll find a way to come visit you.”  
Lewis’ wings flapped a bit in surprise. He hadn’t expected Vivi to be so set on coming to see him again, especially how she acted towards him not that long ago. It meant a lot to him. He was about to express his gratitude when he heard a gasp from behind and he turned to see six fully armored goblin soldiers staring at them.   
“Oh no.”


	26. Chapter 26

The forest was dead silent as the two parties stared at each other, neither one daring to move. Then out of nowhere the six smaller beasts leaped in front of Lewis, teeth bared and circling him in a protective stance. Instantly everything erupted into chaos.   
The soldiers drew their swords and charged only to be sent back by a wave of sound that came from the beasts’ mouths. The soldiers stumbled back but weren’t knocked down and quickly started advancing again.  
“Everyone into the tunnel.” A muffled cry followed as Vivi found herself gagged from behind. Apparently there had been a sixth soldier that had snuck up behind them.   
“Vivi!” Arthur turned to help her but Vivi wasn’t one to not fight back. She bit down on the gag and twisted around causing the soldiers arms to be bent painfully and gave her a better angle to shoot a repulsing spell at him. Once the soldier was on the ground she spat out the gag and ran to the hole.   
Lewis grabbed her and Arthur and used his wings to guide them down to the bottom. They were quickly followed by Mystery and the other beasts.  
Galahad popped his head out of Mystery’s fur and looked back up the hole. “They’re still coming!”  
“Go!” Mystery herded everyone down the tunnel as they heard the clank of the soldiers’ armor as they landed in the tunnel.  
Arthur tried to look back but Mystery and the beasts blocked his view. Just then the beasts turned sharply and let another wave of sound loos. It hit the ceiling and shook the tunnel violently as dirt and rock tumbled down and sealed off the entrance.   
After the ceiling stopped collapsing and dirt and dust settled Lewis uncurled his wings from around Arthur and Vivi, shaking off the fallen debris he shielded them from. He then brushed himself off and he lit a fire in his hand to light the pitch black they had been left in. He looked to the wall of rock and soil then to the rest of the group. Aside from a layer of dust on them everyone looked like they were ok.  
“Well I guess I’m coming with you after all.”  
A hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked down to meet eyes with Arthur. “I’m sorry Lewis, maybe when the guards leave we can dig a pathway through and you can go home.”  
Lewis looked away and shook his head. “No they saw me with you. If I go back I’ll be marked as a traitor. I’ll never be able to go back.”  
“Oh…”  
Arthur moved to take his hand away but Lewis caught it before he did.  
“No it’s ok. It wasn’t really much of a home anyway.”  
“What do you mean?”  
Lewis opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by faint shouting and the wall of earth shifting slightly.  
Mysteries ears twitched and he frowned worriedly. “No time they’re digging through.”   
The group quickly turned and started running down the tunnel.  
-  
They kept going for several hours and only stopped when Arthur tripped and wasn’t able to catch himself without an arm. After that everyone decided it was best to take a rest. They had taken enough turns to have lost anyone if they were being followed. Once everyone was settled Lewis opened his bag and passed some food around. He was glad Vivi told him to pack more food than he’d intended now that not only he was coming but also the six beasts. He hoped that it would last long enough for them to get to the surface.  
After the small meal they walked a bit more before Galahad couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and almost fell off of Mystery. That was the sign to everyone that it was time for some sleep.  
-  
A short time later Vivi opened her eyes. For a moment she didn’t know what had woken her up but it was quickly identified. She had expected to see nothing but the blackness of the tunnel but a soft light purple glow illuminated the cavern. She looked to where the source was and spotted Lewis with a flame lit in his hand looking down at Arthur. He quickly noticed her looking at him and their eyes locked. After a moment Lewis looked back down to Arthur.   
Vivi noticed that he was specifically looking at where Arthur’s left arm would have been if it was there. Despite trying not to she looked down as well, the sight still tying her stomach in uncomfortable knots. Her attention was quickly diverted back to Lewis as something small that twinkled in the light of the fire fell onto Arthur’s shirt and soaked through, revealing itself to be a drop of water. Realizing the only thing that drop of water could have been Vivi looked back to Lewis who was in fact trying to brush tears away from his face.   
Vivi reached up to pull his hand away then brush the tears away herself. The look on his face was heartbreaking and she had a strong need to take it away.   
Whispering just loud enough for Lewis to hear but also not wake the man sleeping between them she said, “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”  
Lewis looked into her eyes as more tears fell from his. “How? It’s my fault.”  
“No, don’t you dare say that.”  
“But it’s true. I promised to protect him. I shouldn’t have let those zombies take him, I should have checked the cave to make sure the map was right, I should have…”  
Vivi cut him off by covering his mouth with her hand. “I told you not to say stuff like that. You didn’t set that trap in the cave, you didn’t drag Arthur into that tree; you didn’t do any of that. What you did do was keep Arthur comfortable and safe for over a month, look for a way to get him home, and saved both our lives more than once. If it hadn’t been for you things would have been a lot worse, so don’t you dare say anything that happened to us is your fault. Do you understand?”  
Lewis nodded with Vivi’s hand still over his mouth.  
“Good.”  
Vivi dropped her hand, but as soon as she did her breath caught in her throat. It then hit her that this was the first time she’d really noticed Lewis’ eyes. Back in the cave she’d been too anxious to get out and all other times the height difference had made it hard to actually look him in the eye. They were a beautiful dark violet shade that got darker closer to the center. The fire reflected off his tears like gems, giving his eyes an almost magical appearance.  
“Uh… why are you staring at me like that?”  
Vivi felt her face flush hot and hoped that the light from the fire wasn’t bright enough for Lewis to see. Had she really been describing Lewis’ eyes as magical in her head? Best to deflect that before she actually started feeling embarrassment, Vivi didn’t do embarrassed.  
“Sorry just noticed how much I hate seeing you frown. You’ve been doing it a lot since I met you. I’d like to make you smile some time.”  
Lewis seemed a bit a loss for words for a moment before smiling gently.   
“Thank you, I’m sure you’d be very good at that.”  
Vivi felt her face flush again, god dam it how did this goblin suddenly become so adorable?  
Just then a grown sounded from between them and they looked down to see Arthur looking groggily up at them.  
“Could you two be cute in the morning I’m trying to sleep.” He then closed his eyes and fell back asleep.  
“Right, oops.”  
Vivi snuggled down next to Arthur as Lewis wrapped them in his wings again. Once the two boys were asleep Vivi pulled out the soulmate stone and looked down at it. It gave off the same soft yellow glow it always had but now she noticed something else. A small swirl a purple was making its way up the side of the stone. Vivi looked to Arthur; there was no doubt in her mind that she loved him just as much as she had the day of their interrupted wedding. With that confirmed for her she relaxed and settled down to sleep. She could deal with her feelings later.


	27. Chapter 27

The next day, or what everyone thought was day seeing there was no sun in a tunnel, the group started walking again. As they walked Vivi thought about her realization she had about her feelings last night. She wondered how she should bring it up with the two men or if she should even bring it up at all. She knew if she didn’t say anything then things would just stay as they were, with her and Arthur staying together and getting married when they reached the Elf Kingdom. Before she would have chosen that option but now, despite only realizing her feelings for him recently, the idea of leaving Lewis out made her incredibly uncomfortable. No she had to say something, at least to Arthur. If they were going to get married she needed to be honest with him.  
She had just made up her mind and turned to Arthur when she noticed the worried and strained look on his face. Deciding that admitting her crush wasn’t as urgent as helping Arthur she placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.  
“What’s wrong?”  
Arthur jumped a bit at the contact but after seeing who it was he relaxed. “Oh, I was just thinking is all. This tunnel leads straight to the Elf Kingdom, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“And nothing has happened there to change people’s minds about goblins, right?”  
Vivi founded, now realizing where this was going. “Yes.”  
“So if we all show up in the middle of the kingdom with Lewis and my arm missing things are going to get ugly fast.”  
“You’re right.”  
“Lewis can’t come home with us. If he does he’d be locked up or…”  
Vivi squeezed Arthur’s shoulder tighter; to reassure him or herself she wasn’t quite sure. She knew he was right but the idea of leaving Lewis behind with nowhere to go left a horrible ache in her heart.  
“It’s ok.”  
Both Vivi and Arthur looked up at hearing Lewis speak.  
“I already knew I wasn’t going to be able to come with you all the way. Don’t worry I’ll figure something out once you two are safely back home.”  
“No.”  
“What?”  
Vivi let go of Arthur and crossed her arms. “I said no. We are not just going to abandon you. We are not going home until we find a safe place for you to stay.”  
Lewis halted at Vivi’s words, apparently taken aback by her ferocity, but there was a hint of relief and gratefulness behind his eyes.  
-  
They all walk a bit more, trying to think of a solution when Vivi looks up ahead and noticed something.  
“Hey what’s that?”  
The others stop and look to where Vivi was pointing. Down a small offshoot of the main path narrow beam of light streamed down from a small whole in the ceiling.  
Arthur’s eyes fixed on the whole and smiles a bit. “It’s sunlight.”   
A silent agreement seemed to be made among the group and they all went over to it and looked up.  
Arthur glanced to the others before looking back at the whole. “Do you think it would be safe for us to dig ourselves out? I really miss the sun.”  
Everyone agreed and one of the smaller beasts turned into a bird to fly out and check the area. After short time the beast poked its head back in and gave the all clear signal. Mystery and the other beasts quickly got to work widening the whole big enough for them to all get out.   
They were right. After two days of being in a dark cramped tunnel being in the open are and sun was amazing. They spent some time just looking around and exploring their new surroundings as they soaked in the sun and fresh air. Apparently, the exit had opened to the forest just outside the Elf Kingdoms borders and they could see the spires of the castle in the distance.  
Arthur stared at the spires. “We’re that close to the Elf Kingdom already?”  
“Huh, guess going under all those obstacles instead of around them and having no detours really cut the length of the trip down. Makes me kind of wish I’d known about this tunnel earlier, it would have saved me and Mystery a lot of hassle.”  
“Yeah but then we wouldn’t have gotten to know Lewis, or Galahad, or the other beasts, and we wouldn’t have stopped Shiro from attacking the Goblin Realm.”  
“True.” Vivi reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around the soulmate stone. “Hey Arthur there’s something I need to talk to you about.”  
However, before she got to say anything more, Galahad’s voice carried over the small area they were all sitting. “Hey guys you got to check out what the beasts and I found.”  
Everyone looked up to see Galahad atop one of the beasts head’s pointing deeper into the woods. They all got up and headed in the direction he was pointing until they came to a large stone cottage. It looked old but in good condition and it didn’t appear to have anyone living in it.  
They opened the door and Mystery sniffed inside. “It smells empty. No one has used this place in a long time, magical or otherwise.”  
A smile broke out on Arthur’s face and he looked to Lewis. “This is perfect. Lewis this is where you can stay. No one else knows about this place so it’s safe from both other goblins and elves. There’s plenty to eat in the woods, you could even grow a garden if you want, and its close enough to the Elf Kingdom we can even visit you.”  
Lewis looked to the house then back to Arthur and mirrored his smile. “Goodness Arthur you’re right. This is perfect.”  
Just then the last few rays of sunlight slipped behind the horizon leaving them in the cool darkness of night.  
“Guess we’re going to see just how perfect, since it looks like we’re going to be staying the night.” Mystery pushed the door fully open and led them all inside.  
The cottage was actually quite spacious and it wasn’t hard for everyone to find a place to sleep.   
-  
The next day Arthur woke up to the smell of something delicious cooking and opened his eyes. He looked around at the cozy master bedroom he, Vivi, and Lewis shared that night and noticed Lewis wasn’t there. Well at least he knew where the great smell was coming from.  
He rolled out of bed and got to his feet only to unexpectedly fall off balance from his missing arm. He quickly tried to regain stability but overcompensated and started falling forwards. In an attempt to break his fall he grabbed at the nearest object, which happened to be Vivi’s cloak haphazardly flung over a chair. Unfortunately, this did not halt his descent and the cloak and chair joined Arthur on the floor with a loud clatter.  
Vivi shot bolt upright at the sound and looked frantically down at Arthur. Loud footsteps were then heard running down the hall followed by Lewis entering the room, worry on his face. He looked around the room until his eyes landed on Arthur.  
“Arthur, what happened?!”  
“I’m fine, just forgot I don’t have an arm again.” He sat up and gave both of them a reassuring smile.  
Something glittering then caught the corner of his eye and he looked down at it. In the tumble the soulmate stone had fallen out of Vivi’s cloak and onto the floor and with no one touching it appeared as clear as glass. However, once Arthur’s fingers touched the surface color quickly took it over. Swirls of blue and purple tangled with each other causing beautiful patterns to ripple across the stone.  
“Wow that’s pretty neat, what is this, Viv.”  
Being addressed snapped Vivi out of her staring and she focused on the stone. A soft smile spread over her lips after she had time to register the colors. “It’s called a soulmate stone. It guides you to the one you love. The colors represent the people you love.”  
Arthur’s eyes went wide in realization at what having two colors meant. “Vivi, I can explain…”  
He was cut off by Vivi leaning over and pulling him into a kiss. Once she broke the kiss she looked to Arthur with loving eyes. “Loving Lewis doesn’t mean you love me any less, right?”  
“Of course, I love you more now I ever have.”  
“Good because this is what I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. I love you Arthur so much I would do anything for you.” She reached down and pulled the soulmate stone from his hand. The colors instantly changed from the swirling blue and purple to a bright yellow with a thick swirl of purple curling from the edge to the center. She turned to Lewis so both the boys would be able to see the colors. “But it appears I love you too Lewis.”  
Lewis looked at the stone for a long moment then looked to both Vivi and Arthur. He took a step forward with tears glittering in his eyes.   
“You both love me?”  
Both Vivi and Arthur nodded.  
Lewis stepped closer and reached a hand out for the stone.  
“Then may I?”  
Vivi handed the stone over to Lewis and the colors changed again. The stone was yellow around the edges with tendrils of blue spreading out from the center.   
“Well it seems I love both of you too.”  
No one was quite sure what happened after words but somehow all three of them ended up on the floor all cuddling and kissing each other. That was until Mystery came in and mentioned the smell of smoke from the kitchen.  
Lewis quickly got to his feet and darted out the room. “The bacon!”  
Both Vivi and Arthur burst into laughter as Mystery sighed and turned back down the hallway to leave them alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally OT3 has happened. I think there might be only one more chapter left of this thing, maybe two if I do an epilogue. OMG I never thought I'd get here.


End file.
